Being Dead to Sin
It is amazing to me how many times the Lord brings a passage of Scripture to my mind several times in a short time for emphasis. I spoke on Romans 6 last week on Wednesday evening, and then, this morning the Experiencing God devotional was on the same passage. The Lord definitely wants me to think about dying to sin or being dead to sin. Either way you want to phrase it, the meaning is the same. Once we get saved we are no longer slaves to sin, so we do not have to sin. Therefore, we need to reckon ourselves dead to sin. We must decide sin is bad for us, so we won't do it when we are tempted. I know that is simplistic, but it is very important.
If we read God's Word, and we know that certain things are sins, we can decide in advance not to do those things. We die to those things. They are no longer a part of our lives. They are put away. This is dying to sin, because we have a new nature, because of the Holy Spirit. In baseball we say that we have to know where to throw the ball before the batter hits it. It is too late to decide after he hits it. It is the same way with sin. If we wait until the temptation to decide, the Devil will convince us many times. However, if we have died to that sin, it is much more difficult to get us to sin.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 91-93 and Romans 15:1-13.
If we read God's Word, and we know that certain things are sins, we can decide in advance not to do those things. We die to those things. They are no longer a part of our lives. They are put away. This is dying to sin, because we have a new nature, because of the Holy Spirit. In baseball we say that we have to know where to throw the ball before the batter hits it. It is too late to decide after he hits it. It is the same way with sin. If we wait until the temptation to decide, the Devil will convince us many times. However, if we have died to that sin, it is much more difficult to get us to sin.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 91-93 and Romans 15:1-13.