80: Don’t Let Sin Reign

It’s only when we believe that God is not counting our sins against us that we will have the power to overcome sinning. There are people who consider suicide, and even follow through with it, because they thought they were supposed to be dead to sinning, and they couldn’t seem to stop it. If they can’t stop sinning, then they begin to think they are better off dead than alive. What they need to know is that through Jesus, they are already dead to sin.

The power of sin will have its way if we don’t RECKON ourselves dead to it. If we take on guilt with our sins, we are destined to repeat the sin. Condemnation is what keeps a person in a cycle of sin. When we forget who we are in Christ, an identity is imposed on us in our mind: the identity of a sinner. We will live out what we believe.

Grace doesn’t give a license to sin. Grace is the answer to sin.

In Romans 6:11 Paul says, “Likewise you also reckon yourselves dead indeed to sin….” He uses the word “therefore.” What is it there for?

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. (Romans 6:12)¹

When we understand that there is no condemnation, and we have died to sin, THEREFORE, we now have the power not to let sin reign in our flesh. Think of flesh as the members of our bodies which includes our brains. That’s why the battle begins in our thoughts. Our natural brains process what our natural eyes see and is stored in our minds as memories. Memories lodged in our natural minds are a big part of this processing. We often react to the outside stimuli based on our experiences from the past. Renewing our minds to truth is so important because if we simply go by what our natural eyes see, what our natural senses perceive, and what our brains deduce, we will live from the outside in. Pressures from the outside, including the temptation to sin, will overcome the strength of the flesh because we come to the wrong conclusions about who and what we really are.

However, if we believe right, we will live from the inside out. When we set our minds on things above and the eternal truths of the Spirit, and we renew our minds to God’s word, the power of sin in the flesh will be no match for us. As partakers of Christ’s divine nature in our spirit, through our union with Him, and by the power of the Holy Spirit within, we have complete dominion over sin, over satan, and over the flesh.

And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (Romans 6:13)

True holiness, the kind that is an overflow of love and gratefulness to God because of His extravagant love lavished on us through the cross, always follows correct believing that there is no condemnation for us in Christ.

(from pages 138-140 of Unveiling Jesus)

Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!

Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.

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¹All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.  Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.  Used by permission.”