Are we dead to sin?

"For who has died has been ¹set free from sin." Romans 6:7

 

The above is an absolute statement, not a conditional one i.e. it doesn't say you will be set free if you take additional action... it says you have been set free! This is a past completed action done to and for you, not by you. We didn't set ourselves free, someone else did. And not only so, but this freedom is so complete and absolute it's described as death. It doesn't get any more final than that.

So in what sense have we been set free? First, we will look at how we have not been set free.

What we are not yet free from is our inclination to distrust God and our passion to go our ²own way. If so, there wouldn't be verse 12.

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions." Romans 6:12

Who is Paul talking to? Nonbelievers? No, believers! This verse implies the passion to sin is still present in God’s child and still needs addressing - after he described us as dead to sin in vs 4 - otherwise why the exhortation to not let sin reign? The allure of going our own way - sin - still exists, even for a child of God.

This is ironically good news. How? We shouldn't be shocked (or devastated) when this passion within rears its ugly head. Sin - i.e. rebellious distrust of God - is still a struggle. This exhortation tells us God recognizes this passion still exists, yet He no longer holds our sin against us. Exhorting us to not let sin reign indicates that if we are in Christ, God desires to work with us and meet us where we are, fully embracing us in our ongoing struggle with sin - unbelief.

So what exactly are we set free from and dead to if not our passion to sin? We are free from sins legal claim and right to condemn us, which results in our rejection, and eternal separation from God caused by that sin – a separation rightly due us for our distrust of God - i.e. for not acknowledging God for who He is as trustworthy...which is the root of all sinful behavior – see link below.

And the reason we have been set free from this just condemnation is so we might be set free (Romans 6:4, 7:4, 8:4) from our ³passion to distrust God i.e. in light of being set free from sins condemnation we should “let not sin therefore reign...” 

Fully and clearly understanding our legal status is vital to our day-to-day faithfulness. It is the foundation and fountain out of which all faithfulness/obedience springs.

"We were buried therefore with him (Christ) by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans" 6:4. 

Another way to say this is Christ set us free legally, so we might be set free practically i.e. our legal freedom from the condemnation of sin - when clearly understood -  is what diffuses our passion to sin and frees us from it.

Christ bore the judgment of sin and removed its penalty forever–not only from us but from Himself. He will not die again because there is nothing left to die for as indicated when Christ shouted out, "it is finished." His death covered all our sin forever...full stop! Not just the ones we did, but the ones we do and are yet to do. 

The just condemnation of our sin was perfectly and completely satisfied by Christ and removed from us, placed on him, killing him – or rather he submitted willingly to this for us. 

His resurrection is evidence of God’s approval of the total transfer of all our sin - past, present, and future - to Him and His total righteousness to us. As a result we are now "dead to sin."

Why? ... in order that...we too might walk in newness of life… Rom 6:4b

The reason we are set free from the just condemnation we deserve is so we will live in a different or new way; no longer the way we used to live i.e. no longer contrary to God’s design and will for us and no longer under His judgment; no longer needing or attempting to gain God's love and acceptance through our own deeds. We are now dead to everything about that old way - all of it!  To use the example Paul uses to show the absolute completeness of what Christ did, we are no longer in Adam but in Christ.

Being freed from the condemnation, judgment, and rejection of God due us is the grounds on which we build our house of faithful obedience and the foundation out of which we are empowered to pursue God. The more we grasp this new freedom from condemnation and rejection and the absolute completeness of it, the ⁴freer we become in our conduct, and the more this new status of being perfectly accepted and fully loved by God wins our trust and devotion to God and empowers us to pursue Him.

For a further discussion of how unbelief is at the heart of sin, click here.

For a further discussion of our legal vs practical status click here.

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¹We are not set free from our inclination to distrust God but from the rejection by God and separation from Him that naturally and rightfully occurs because of this distrust. By our being set free from our just condemnation, our trust in God’s love is restored, stirred up, and strengthened. The more we grasp how much we have been freed, the greater our loving affections for God and the more we are stirred to pursue Him i.e. the more we are freed from our passion to pursue something other than God. Nothing else can fulfill us besides God and free us from our desires to pursue things other than Him.

The love of God is what moves us to pursue him and the total freedom from the judgment, condemnation, and death sin brings, is the evidence of that love. Let that sink in. The more it does, the more your passion for God increases and frees you from passions for things other than God. 

Though these two -- freedom from sins legal claim vs its practical hold -- are separate, they are also tied together; the latter built on and resting firmly on the former.

²an embedded sinful inclination away from God

³Passion is a strong word. We may not think of our unbelief as passionate but the idea of the word is it is a deeply embedded and tenacious distrust of God that is at the root of all disobedience.

For more discussion on the connection between unbelief, sin, and disobedience click here.

⁴We are free but we are not free. We are free from the condemnation, judgment, and rejection of God but not free from our inclination and passion to sin. The former is completed-done-finished, the latter is ongoing. The latter decreases to the extent we grasp-believe the former. The effect of this good news - the gospel - is ongoing, constant and increasing. It is only left to us to believe it. 

Do you believe? How much? The more you do the freer you become from your passion to sin. 

legal vs practical consequences of distrust

When we in Christ, the legal consequences of our rebellious distrust of God - condemnation, alienation and death - are no longer part of our status (i.e. we no longer stand condemned before God) nor are they a part of God's disposition toward us. These are entirely removed. They can not be revisited by God and should never be by us. To do so dishonors Christ and his work on our behalf. As Christ said in his dying breath "It is finished..." The work required for us to stand right (perfect) before God is done, over, completed! We can add nothing to it.

The practical consequences of our ¹distrust of God, however, are fully in play and have a real, ongoing, and significant impact on our disposition or sense of closeness to God, our day-to-day relationship with Him, and experience of His love. ¹Distrust may no longer be a legal issue for God but it is still very much a practical one for us.

Though these are entirely separate issues, both are equally significant in how we relate to God. To the degree distrust is no longer a legal issue it is equally significant as a practical one. We often mix these up and have a hard time keeping them separate.

Accurately assessing and acknowledging these two very different and seemingly opposite - but vitally ³connected - aspects of our relationship to God are essential to living in the fullness of love now that he's called us to i.e. to love God with all we are and have and our neighbors as ourselves. To not see the former clearly - i.e. our legal status - is to not enter into the day-to-day practical benefits of our relationship with God fully.

To fully participate in the life we now have in Christ we must see both our perfect righteousness before God and our ongoing deeply embedded distrust of God at the same time.

To recognize and focus on the practical issue of our ongoing distrust is not to revisit - place ourselves under - God's rejection and condemnation we were once under. It is to clearly assess where we need to trust Him more. In Christ, rejection, and condemnation by God no longer exists. We are now fully accepted, cherished and embraced by God. 

The practical issue of our distrust is an entirely separate matter from the legal consequences of our rebellion. It has to do with our moving toward or away from God, not God moving toward or away from us. In Christ God is now fully and perfectly for us, never against us. He is now Immanuel - God with us. 

The practical issue of our distrust must be addressed daily if we are to honor God, experience all He has for us, and be all He created us to be.

To illustrate, once a couple marries, they are fully husband and wife no matter how strained their relationship becomes. Unless they legally divorce, they will remain husband and wife with all the vows, responsibilities, and potential benefits of that relationship intact. However, while held together by binding covenant, they can become completely alienated from each other emotionally due to distrust within the relationship. To build trust does not make them any more a husband and wife legally than they already are but it does make them better partners as husband and wife i.e. The practical outworking of their legal status as husband and wife is more fully and appropriately expressed,  experienced, and demonstrated when trust is a vital part of the relationship. The more they trust each other the more they experience the other's love.

Trust is vital to our developing a stronger relationship with God just as it is with our spouse - or any other significant relationship. This involves our ongoing and increasing love and faithfulness to each other. In each, the stronger the relationship, the more healthy, satisfying, and rewarding it becomes.

Is God's love conditional or unconditional? For a further discussion click here.

For a further discussion on the now but not yet aspect of the gospel, click here.

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¹Even though we are redeemed and the legal consequences of our distrust are gone and no longer held against us, distrust itself remains. It is still embedded in our character, nature or disposition. 

Though trust is greatly restored once we are initially reconciled to God it is still deeply ingrained in our makeup and its negative effects still linger, even as His children. 

God continues to work on and  increase our trust - remove our distrust - in order to strengthen our relationship with Him i.e. He seeks to increase our faith and our experience of His perfect love.

²We are freed from the latter (distrust) to the extent we grasp the former (no condemnation). The greater our grasp of our perfect legal standing before His unfettered love the more impact it has on us practically in our trust of God and day-to-day walk with Him. In this way these two aspects (legal and practical) of our relationship with God are vitally connected though they are seperate.

³Though I am perfectly loved, I do not experience his love perfectly. How far that progresses in this life depends on the progress of my faith-trust in God and faithfulness to him. Once we are in eternity and glorified, the unfettered experience of his love for us begins. Distrust is no longer part of the equation/relationship i.e. we will fully trust at that time because we we will be face to face with Him. We will be like Him because we will see Him as He as is, our perfect loving God.

The more we learn to trust him now, the greater our experience of him in eternity - and today. He is our greatest reward.

Gospel (good news) or religion?

All religions say:

* Do good and be good

* Then you will be accepted and approved by God and ultimately achieve heaven - bliss.

Much of the evangelical church says:

* "Trust Christ" — ¹see footnote.

* Do good and be good i.e. live a righteous life

*Then you will be fully accepted by God.

This 2nd view indicates many within the church do not believe the true gospel but only a "Christianized" version of religion i.e. the first view above. 

It is easy to do. We are naturally inclined to want to "save" ourselves. Acknowledging we ultimately can not is a hard pill to swallow that few of us admit. 

This is the essence of our rebellion in Eden and has been ever since. It was also an issue that surfaced at the very beginning of the church with the Judizer's.  An entire letter was written to the church at Galatia addressing this. It is clear we are bent on winning the approval of others; including and especially God's.

In contrast to religion...

The Gospel says:

* Receive the free offer of Christ's perfect righteousness and forgiveness because you can not and never will be good enough or do enough good to ²earn God's approval or acceptance. If we could have, there would've been no point in Christ coming and dying. 

* Only when we accept what Christ did for us - versus what we do for him - are you perfectly and fully accepted by God. There is nothing more for you to do to be accepted. FULL STOP!

*Now, in, by, and through His perfect love-acceptance, live to honor God in response to His love that fully restored us back to Him.

Note that obedience - living for God - is just as vital a part of a gospel-based lifestyle as a works-based one (religion). But not as the cause of God's acceptance, but in response to it. Obedience matters, but for a very different reason.

Both views -- I obey God to be accepted vs I am perfectly accepted therefore I obey God -- involve how we live... But they have a different order of priority and for very different reasons.

The former is acting out of the belief I must earn God's love and the latter out of the belief I already perfectly have it in and through Christ. Nothing I do or do not do will add to or take away from God's love and acceptance of me, ever! 

The former is about me -- acting for my benefit -- the latter is about ³God -- acting for His honor because every benefit is already mine and bestowed on me by and through Christ.

Christianity is not I obey and then I'm accepted but I am accepted therefore I obey.

The gospel says nothing you do or don't do can add to or take away from God's perfect acceptance of you in Christ - i.e. His love and acceptance is unconditional and complete, not based on any of our deeds good or bad. The only condition required of you is to recognize you need Him and accept his offer i.e. being and living justly is by faith. This requires humidity i.e. we can not and will not save ourselves by our good deeds or be rejected by God because of our bad ones if we trust Christ.

If we have not been transformed by God's love and do not have the desire to live for and obey Him to bring Him glory, we do not yet understand the good news, aka gospel. We are wise to make sure we are even His child. This is a primary theme of 1 John.

For a discussion on how we are inclined to try and earn God's love click here.

For a discussion on the difference between "Cultural Christians" and grace-driven followers of Christ, click here.

For a discussion on how God's love is conditional and unconditional click here.

For a discussion on whether our focus should be on morality or Jesus click here.

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¹ I put "trust Christ" in quotes because if we truly trust what Christ has done for us, we do not feel compelled to do good deeds to win his acceptance. Love will, however, compel us to put Him on display. "Obedience" is the supernatural and organic response to God's love. I put obedience in quotes only because we do it because we want to - as a response to God loving us first before we ever lifted a finger for him - not because we have to gain God's acceptance.

²This is true not only before we come to Christ but after. We can please God once we are in Christ but this is not a matter of His acceptance of us. His acceptance is already addressed and perfectly settled by Christ's work on our behalf. What pleases God now that we are in Christ is faith. Without it, we can not please God. This faith is in the complete love and acceptance of us in Christ. His love - not our efforts to try and earn it -drives us to love Him in return and honor him in all our words and deeds, i.e. obedience.

³Since God has fully taken care of the "me" side of the equation, acting for God is the only reason left.