"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God" (Romans 6:8-10)

It is an amazing thing to know that we will live with Jesus for all eternity. The reason we know this is because he completely defeated sin and death upon the cross and it has no claim over us. All power death had over Jesus while he was on this earth in human form has been broken once for all. Colossians chapter 2 tells us that he made a public spectacle of all powers and authorities upon the cross ( Colossians 2:13-15 ). He did not just defeat them, but he paraded that defeat through the heavenly realms. Somewhere along the lines, the church has missed this parade, and we're suffering for it.

In the Old Testament, when a king and kingdom were defeated, the winning side would cut off the thumbs and big toes of the captives, including the defeated king. Then strip them down until naked and parade them around from place to place announcing their defeat. Letting them soak in their shame and humiliation along the way. This parade accomplished several things. First, since they did not have thumbs they would never be able to hold a sword again. Secondly, since they did not have big toes, they would never be able to stand and fight again. Lastly, they were discredited. After being marched around naked, they were humiliated and shamed in front of everyone who might have previously been intimidated by them. Instead they jeered, laughed and hurled insults at the defeated kingdom. If the defeated king ever did muster up another attempt at an army, multitudes of people would remember their complete defeat and discount them as a threat. Extreme as it was, it was quite effective.

At the time of Jesus' resurrection from the dead that parade of defeat happened and we are witnesses to it. When He arose from the grave, he made a public spectacle of the defeated enemy. He marched Satan, death and his entire dominion through the streets in shame, defeat and discredited them in every way imaginable. They were so defeated that there would never be a hope for them to recover. Death has no dominion over Jesus because it was completely defeated. Jesus rose to live eternally as our high priest before God making intercession for us. "The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God." ( Romans 6:10 ) On the cross he completely ended his relationship to sin by condemning it once for all. Since then, He is living a life in unbroken fellowship with God and he offers that fellowship and union to us as well.

In the same that death has no mastery over Jesus because he defeated it, it has no control over us either. When we trust in Jesus as our conquering King then we are a part of the winning team. All control and claim that sin and death had on us was removed with Jesus purifying blood. The problem comes when we fail to recognize what happened. However, Paul makes it clear that we will live with Christ, he has conquered death and has reunited us to God the Father. Today it is my prayer that you will renew your mind to these truths and celebrate this victory instead of being subjected to sin's domain. I pray that you find glorious freedom in this revelation of scripture. Amen!

Previous: Romans 6:5-7  Next: Romans 6:11

Original article published October 17, 2009.

"If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin" (Romans 6:5-7)

Through Christ's death and resurrection on the cross we have been freed from the things that held us captive in the past. Things like sin and death. However, the problem with being set free, is that it only works if we know we are free. A canary, use to his cage, could be oblivious to an open door and the chance at freedom if he doesn't recognize the opportunity to fly clear of his captivity. The same is true for born again believers, if you don't know you've been freed from these things, then chances are you are not going to experience any freedom from them.

Hosea 4:6 says, "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge" ( Hosea 4:6 ) Meaning a lack of knowing these truths will keep you from realizing who and what you are in Christ Jesus. Satan will continue to keep you subjected to his domain if you don't know that you are freed of it. Even though we have been freed from our sin nature and are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, it is our knowledge or perception of truths that control our physical emotions and experiences. So even though this is true in our born again spirit, we will not see evidence of it in our soulish realm unless we renew our mind to these truths.

For instance, in today's passage, Paul tells us that our old self, or sin nature was crucified with Christ so that it could be completely done away with. Meaning it was completely destroyed in the process of our rebirth and we were freed from that old nature permanently. However, you will hear Christians says things like, ‘I am constantly dying to self', or ‘I am struggling with my sin nature' when in fact this is not in accordance with what the scripture teaches. The Bible says that we have died to the old sin nature. Their comments come from observation of the flesh. They are assuming that their sin nature is driving them to sin, but Paul said we have died to it. So in reality the reason that Christians tend to sin is not because of their old nature, but because of an unrenewed mind. We have to reprogram our mind to the Word of God to change our behavior otherwise we will continue to operate in the nature of this world even after we have died to it.

Our dead sin nature left behind it's remnants upon our unrenewed mind. Just as a body is left when a person dies, even though the spirit and soul do not remain with the body. Only the physical body remains. In the same way, our sin nature has died and is gone, but it left behind remains in our thoughts and emotions. The only way to remove these traces is to renew your mind. Romans 12: 2 says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will..." ( Romans 12:2 ) The traces of this old nature will be cleaned out and removed the more you renew your mind to the truth. And the more you know the true, the more freedom you will experience.

The Bible truly offers effortless change because it opens our eyes to what has been accomplished through Jesus. He has done it all and there is nothing left for us to do. We don't have to master sin, Jesus did it and as a gift freed us from it as well. The difference comes about when you know that you are free. It is truly liberating to know that it is not in my nature to sin, I chose to do so. Therefore, change will come once I start renewing of my mind to who I truly am in Christ Jesus. Amen!

Previous: Romans 6:4  Next: Romans 6:8-10

Original article published October 16, 2009.