Dying To Sin

In answer to the criticism that a salvation by grace would promote an attitude allowing for an increase of sin among the faithful, Paul emphatically states, "By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Rom 6:2).

Paul's argument is that God's grace not only frees the Christian from the consequences of sin but also frees him/her from the control of sin.  The accepting of grace is not simply a pardon for our sins but moreover a power over them.  When we have died to sin, we live in freedom from sin.

This control over sin afforded by grace is so powerful that John would later insist, "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God" (1 Jn 3:9).

But how can that be?  Doesn't Paul also say that "All sin and fall short of the glory of God?" (Rom 3:23)?  And doesn't John go on to say that "If we claim to have no sin that we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 Jn 1:8)?  Yes, both statements are true, and that is the very reason for grace.

If we were not guilty of sin, why would we need grace.  "On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick" (Matt 9:12).  He did not come to call the righteous but sinner instead.   Grace and the fact of sin go hand in hand, which was exactly the argument made against Paul's teaching about grace that we began with.

So yes, sin remains.  And yes, we have to do battle with temptation to sin.  But no, we do not have to to give in to it for "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it" (1 Cor 10:13).  Grace gives us power over sin.

The power to live in the face of sin is, as Paul statement above points out, is when "we die to sin."  One's dying to sin separates him/her from that sin.  In fact, the Greek word for death means separation.  The challenge we face is in the how of dying to sin.

How does one go about dying to sin?  The simple answer is to start living for Christ and living in grace.  Whenever we choose His will over ours, we die to sin.  Whenever we do the right thing in the face of temptation, we die to sin.  Dying to sin is not simply a one time choice, it is a continual choosing in the face of temptation.

Will we always choose the right over the wrong?  No, but we can make it our aim that o always do so.  We can make our daily walk one characterized by the choice of light over dark and "if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 Jn 1:7).  We die to sin as we live to Christ.  Jus' Say'n.