Dead To Me

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:11 NKJV

It's a question often asked by christians.  If Jesus Christ has indeed shed his blood and cleansed my sins, why do I still have a desire to sin?  Indeed, Jesus has cleansed us of all sins past present and future.  The slate has been wiped clean by his blood.  We no longer need to ask forgiveness for our transgressions.  For if we do, our Lord will not remember any sin which Jesus has given his very life for.  Imagine coming before the throne of grace asking for forgiveness for some iniquity we've done, only to hear our loving Father say to us, "My child, for what sin are you seeking my forgiveness?  I see no blemish upon you."  This is the way it is for we who have accepted the free gift that Jesus has given all mankind.  When we accept Jesus and what he did for us on the cross, our sins are remembered by our Heavenly Father no more.  That stain has been made clean once and for all.  But wait, if Jesus' death on that cross cleansed us of every sin we will ever have, doesn't that give us a license to sin?  I mean, even if I sin I'm forgiven, right?  Is this not a freedom to behave badly?  Not according to the apostle Paul.

What shall we say then?  Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound?  Certainly not!  How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Romans 6: 1-2 NKJV

One thing we must remember, is that when Jesus breathed his final breath on a Roman cross and gave up his spirit, it is we who died with him!  For it is we who owned that sin that Jesus gave himself to conquer.  It was for our iniquities that Jesus suffered and died.  WE deserved that punishment that was given to our Lord and Savior.  We had become slaves to the sin Jesus gave his life for!  When sin was nailed to the cross, it was we who breathed our last breath as well!  Gone is that sin stained "former self" that once made it's home within us.  THAT is what needed to be put to death, and THAT is what was put to death with Jesus on that cross so long ago.  Knowing that we have died along with our sin, why should we continue to engage in it?  Those chains of bondage that once ensnared us have been broken forever!  The life we now live, we live in the forgiveness and love of Jesus who paid our debt once and for all.  That former sin has been vanquished!

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me"
Galations 2:20 NKJV

How good a feeling it is, when sin comes knocking, to smile and know in your heart "YOU'RE DEAD TO ME!"

~Scott~