Romans 6:11 (NIV) In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

If you have ever been around a dead body, you notice some things. Someone who's dead can't speak, move, or do anything at all. They can't even think. If you can't do any of those things because you are dead, then there is no opportunity for you to sin. If you are dead, then sin is not a problem for you.

While anyone one with half of a brain can figure that out, I wonder if we really get it. The Word of God gives us the answer to our sin problem over and over again. The verse above is just one of many verses stating the same truth. Dead people don't sin. So the life-giving truth is found in dying to sin. But how do you do that? This verse gives us the answer to that as well. You not only die to sin, but you also live to God in Christ Jesus. Jesus is life, and He lived His life without sinning. If your life is "hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3), then it is Christ living in you that keeps you from the control of your sinful nature. Once you have died to self and are alive to God in Christ, your sin problem is over because sin is not a problem to Him. He will be living His life in you by the Holy Spirit, and you will find that you now have power to resist temptation and live in victory over sin. Jesus paid a high price so that you can have that privilege. It cost Him being crucified, dying a painful death, and having all of our sins laid on Him so that He could take the punishment that belonged to us.

Because we have surrendered our lives to Him, we count ourselves as dead to our old lives and we become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). That new creation is not held captive by sin. That new creation operates by participating in God's divine nature. If God's nature is in you, you are done with sin. They say that dead people tell no tales, and neither do they have the opportunity to sin. Be done with sin by counting yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. It's as simple as that.

Pastor Joey Vazquez