WANTED: Dead AND Alive

Romans 6:6-15:  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  For he that is dead is freed from sin.  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.  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.  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God. 
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 

There are three things that are important for us to know here in these verses of Scripture. First of all, in verse 6, you’ll notice there is something that God wants us to KNOW. Then in verse 11, there is something that God wants us to RECKON. And in verse 13, there is something that God wants us to YIELD.  Now this is the only action verb.
What is it that God wants us to KNOW? I would suggest to you that this is something that the devil does not want you to know. We’re going to discover that what God wants us to know, the devil has hidden from the church. How did the devil succeed in hiding this gem of truth in the life of the believer?

Had Satan known what we are about to discover, he would never have crucified the Lord of glory. Why do I say that? I say that because in crucifying Jesus, Satan played right into the hands and the plan of God.

What is it that God wants us to know here in verse six?  He wants us to know that our “old man” is crucified with Christ. He is referring to that part of us that we are born with: The Sin Nature; that dictator that took over our nature and ruled over our life, and influenced us to sin, and do that which was wrong.

Religion and church going alone cannot obtain salvation in your life, even with your sincerity and good works. You must understand that you were conceived and have grown up with Adam’s nature, the fallen sin nature that is in rebellion against God. All the ‘good’ things you have to offer God are as “.stinking, filthy rags…” in the sight of God, according to His Word. And this is why we truly need to understand that this is the reason we desperately need Christ in our hearts. Most of us are very good at being our own ‘god’; going our own way in rebellion against God in heaven.

Everything the lost sinner does is wickedness before God, who is pure, holy and righteous.  That’s why we desperately need Jesus, to be clothed in His righteousness, and to have His blood cleanse our hearts of all of our sins. That’s why He says (Rom 6:6) that when you come to Christ, something happens to you. The ‘old man’, that power that made you transgress, the authority of Adam’s nature that dominated over you and dictated to you, was broken. It was destroyed and put to death, that we should no longer serve sin.

This is what He wants you to know: The “old man” is dead. Do you know what that means? It means the power, or authority of sin has been broken! I hope we realize the significance of what I’m saying. Let me explain it to you. Do you know there are folks who claim to be Christians but do not believe Romans 6:6?  They simply try to explain it away. They’ll say something like…  “Boy! I don’t believe that. I’ve still got the ‘old man’ inside of me; that’s why I sin!”  That’s nice theology, but it’s not Biblical. That’s what I call the ‘Theology of Irresponsibility’ that is permeating the body of Christ in the 21st century.

We look for a theology that makes us comfortable….that makes us irresponsible, so that we do not have to accept any blame, guilt, or responsibility for our own sins. Jesus says that grace and mercy, forgiveness and justification, and all the wondrous works of salvation were available to you prior to your salvation, but you only experience them at the moment of repentance and faith.

So also is the reality of the marvelous truth that the moment you come to Christ, He breaks the power and authority of sin. He broke and put to death on that cross the sinful propensities within you, and at the moment of conversion, it becomes a reality, so that you don’t have to sin anymore!!

Adam and Eve in the Garden were totally free. They could choose to do just anything they wanted. God said they could do anything they wanted. They could go anywhere; do anything…except one (1) thing. What do you think Adam and Eve did? Out of the multitudinous things they had to do, they did the one thing that God had said not to do. Now don’t be too critical on that couple because you and I would probably have done the same thing had we been there. They were born in a state of total freedom. But the moment they sinned against God, they lost that freedom.

We were born with Adam’s fallen nature, with the power and authority of sin dominating and dictating over us. Through Adam we have inherited a sinful nature, but the moment we come to Christ, the second Adam, our choices are then guided by His great principle of love and obedience. Christ, who succeeded in human flesh where the first Adam failed, now gives us a spiritual mind which longs to please the One who now lives within our heart.
“Without freedom of choice, his (Adam’s) obedience would not have been voluntary, but forced” (Conflict & Courage pg. 13).

We now serve Him out of tremendous love and grateful appreciation for His great sacrifice, as we look for “…that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;”  (Titus 2:13)
Someone once said to me: “I’d never become a Christian!” I responded: “Well, why not?”, to which he continued… “You Christians can’t have any fun!”. I asked…. “We can’t? I didn’t know that!”. The gentleman, recognizing that I must be really dense, stated: “You can’t drink or smoke; you can’t carouse or be immoral; you can’t go to the movies or the dance!” I responded: “What do you mean, I can’t. I’m a Christian, and of course I can smoke, drink, go to the movies; I can be as carnal and fleshly minded as anyone else! I can do all those things, because Christ has set me free!”

As the gentleman was looking quizzically at me, I said: “Don’t look so puzzled! I didn’t say I want to do those things. You see when I became one with Christ, He gave me a new appetite. He gave me new desires…..He gave me a new “WANT TO”. I’ve now a “WANT TO” for righteousness and purity, and a “DON’T WANT TO” for sin and for that which is wrong. In every born-again believer is the nature of God that is pure and holy, and longs to be right before God, and to do that which is pleasing in His sight. (1 John 3:22).  This is the one great evidence that you are more than a religious church member. It evidences that you have indeed been washed through the blood of Christ and have been regenerated by the power of His resurrection and mediatorial ministry.

I looked this man in the face and said: “I can do everything you do as a lost sinner! I can go and get a pack of cigarettes tonight and light up. I’d no doubt get dizzy and cough myself silly, but I can do it! I can get a 6-pack tonight and get bombed. I can do everything you can do as a lost sinner. As a child of God who has been set free, I can choose to do it all. I just don’t happen to want to.”  The desire for it is gone.

Once again I looked this man in the face and said: “But I want to tell you, there’s one thing I can do as a Christian that you cannot do as a lost sinner!”  He asked: “What’s that?” I responded, “I can quit! Now who’s free?”

Friends, the devil has lied to us. He has said to us: “Don’t surrender your life to God. Don’t go for broke with God. Don’t’ be recklessly abandoned to the Will of God in your life. Whatever you do, maintain control. Don’t lose your life; you’ll lose your freedom!”

This is nonsense. Do you know who is truly free? Real freedom is not the right to do what you want to do. Real freedom is the power to do what you ought to do. And when we learn this marvelous truth, then we will do what we want to do, because what we want to do will be that which we ought to do.

“[God’s] law is the preserver of true freedom and liberty. It points out and prohibits those things that degrade and enslave, and thus to the obedient it affords protection from the power of evil. The psalmist says: "I will walk at liberty: for I seek Thy precepts." "Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors." Psalm 119:45, 24.  {Ed 291}

Truly free people in this world are not lost people who are slaves to their flesh. They are not slaves to their pride and rebellion. They are not slaves to sin and carnality.  Truly free people in this world are those believers who have ‘..put on Christ..’ (Gal. 3:27).  Jesus said you shall experience the truth and the “…truth shall make you free.”
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…….  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”  (John 8:32, 36).  Do you realize what that means? It means I have been set free!  This is the marvelous beauty of the transformed life in Jesus Christ. This is good news worth shouting to the world. “I’ve been set free; I’m free, I’m a free man; God has given me freedom to choose!”

Someone says, “I don’t believe that! I’ve just got to have somebody to blame for my sins; anybody in their right mind knows you’ve got to sin, right?” This is exactly what the adversary wants you to believe. That’s exactly the reason he has confused our minds today, because he wants us to believe that we HAVE TO SIN.

If we believe we have to sin, we’ve already lost. It’s like kissing your wife goodbye as you leave the house, and she says, “Honey, I know that you’re going to speak cruelly to someone today, you’re going to fudge a little bit on your income taxes, you’re going to get upset and curse a little bit, and you’re going to think bad thoughts today, but please honey, do your sweetheart a favor and try not to do any of those things!”

When you get out of bed in the morning and you believe that you’ve got to sin, and knowing that you’re going to be back tonight asking for forgiveness again, then this is exactly what will happen.  The devil knows this, and that’s why he doesn’t want you to know this. He doesn’t want you to know the wonderful truth that as you surrender your life every morning to Jesus and ask Him to live within your heart, victory can be yours. The motive for victory is now your faith in Christ’s ability to allow His love and guidance to bring victory.  The adversary wants you to try in your own strength to gain victory over his enticements today. Jesus, our example, lived His life in daily consecrated communion with His Father. You and I can be one with Jesus just as He demonstrated His oneness with His Father in Heaven.

With Christ dwelling in your heart, the authority to make you sin has been broken. Jesus sets you free. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t mean there’s no possibility for you to ever sin. What I am saying is that you don’t have to sin. The child of God does not go through the day expecting to sin. If you expect to sin, you will. You must keep your mind fixed upon Christ and believe with all your heart that you do not have to sin anymore. You love Him with all your heart and would not desire to do anything that would hurt Him.

Someone says, “I don’t believe that. I’m a Christian and I have sin problems in my life.  I’ve had them there for 30 or 40 years, and I just can’t get the victory!”

A pastor was counseling with a gentleman from his congregation who was seeking help with a sin problem over which he could not gain the victory. The pastor sat and listened to that man speak of his dilemma for nearly 2 hours. He was upset and miserable in regard to this sin problem in his life.

Finally, the pastor asked him what the sin problem was over which he was having such difficulty gaining the victory.

The gentleman whispered: “I’m so ashamed to have to admit this, but I curse. I use profanity in at least every other sentence I speak.”

Now this man had a fine reputation as an upstanding Christian in the community. Everyone had high regard for him.

The Pastor stated, “You don’t want the victory!”  “I do too!”, responded the man.

“:What do you mean, I don’t want the victory? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve agonized over this thing, begging God for victory over this sin; and I just can’t quit cursing!”

“No, you really don’t want the victory”, the pastor responded, “You’ve been in this room for nearly 2 hours, and you haven’t said one curse word yet.”

The man drew an astonished breath and said, “Why, I wouldn’t think of cursing in the presence of a preacher!”

“Oh! So you choose where you curse, do you?” responded the pastor.

When Christ is living in your heart, we do not sin unless we choose to.  We choose to be bitter, or gossip. We choose to lie, or sit stubbornly in our pride when God speaks to us. We choose to disobey. We choose to indulge our flesh in that which is wrong and pamper its appetites.

The only way you and I can sin is to push Jesus off the throne of our life and crown ourselves as “Boss” and “Lord”.
“God has bought us, and He claims a throne in each heart. Our minds and bodies must be subordinated to Him, and the natural habits and appetites must be made subservient to the higher wants of the soul.” {6BC 1088}
When God creates circumstances to slice us open and squeeze us under pressure, the juice that comes out proves who has control; yourself or Jesus. Either the flesh or the Spirit of the Living God is in control of your life. It will inevitably be one or the other.

When we arise in the morning we should write a constant reminder on our medicine chest, refrigerator, and automobile visor:

“I don’t have to sin anymore. Jesus has set me free. I’ve got the choice, the freedom to choose, and all the power of God in Heaven is at my disposal to back up that choice. I don’t have to sin anymore!”

At the moment of conversion, Jesus broke the authority and power of the “Old man” that makes you sin. Paul understood this principle clearly when he stated: “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:11).  We are “Wanted: Dead and Alive”. We are to present our bodies a living sacrifice. (Dead and Alive).  When you pull up a new shoot of corn as it comes out of the ground, you will notice the original seed has rotted, but it has brought forth life.

The key principle to victorious living is: DEATH BRINGS LIFE.

Our only hope is to place in control of our lives the One who gave Himself for us on Calvary’s cross. Then when you awaken in the morning, you can say, “I don’t have to sin today, and by God’s grace, I will not sin today”.