Are we Christians? Then we must know this: “We have died to sin”. Yes dear brothers, this thing that we have died to sin is what distinguishes us from the world, I mean, to be a Christian is not to wear a T-shirt that says: “I love you Jesus”. To be a Christian is to demonstrate daily with our lives that we are really Christians, but, beyond what we can show outwardly, there is something much more important, and that is how we are before God.
Christianity is not an external label, nor is it reduced to words or gestures learned in a religious environment. It is a deep transformation that begins in the heart and is reflected in our decisions, our attitudes, and our way of relating to others. When Scripture tells us that we have died to sin, it is not speaking of a metaphor without meaning, but of a spiritual reality that marks a before and after in our lives.
Remember that the Pharisees and scribes really looked great in their appearances, but inside they were white washed sepulchers, in the same way we must understand that the Christian life goes beyond the exterior, it is based on living a full life in God, which means being dead to sin. Does this mean that we should live sinning? Of course not, but this does mean that when we sin we feel the most miserable people of creation and we regret of that.
A believer who has truly encountered Christ cannot feel comfortable living in sin. There is an internal struggle, a conviction produced by the Holy Spirit that leads us to repentance. This pain for sin is not condemnation, but evidence that God is still working in us. The world may justify sin, normalize it, and even celebrate it, but the Christian conscience cannot remain indifferent to what offends God.
The apostle Paul said:
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.Romans 6:1-4
In our first paragraphs we already referred to the first two verses, now let’s make a short reference about verses three and four; the apostle says: “We have been baptized in the death of Jesus.” Later he adds: “For we are buried with him by death through baptism, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life” (V.4).
Baptism represents that old life being left behind. It symbolizes the death of the old man, the one who was enslaved to sin, and the beginning of a new life under the lordship of Christ. Just as Christ truly died and truly rose again, the believer is called to live a real change, not superficial or temporary, but constant and sincere.
What Christ’s death did on the cross was to bring us to salvation, to take us to the Father, to recover that spiritual life of man with God, therefore, that sacrifice of Christ on the cross so that we can walk or live in a new life.
This new life is not free from struggles, temptations, or moments of weakness. However, it is a life guided by grace, sustained by faith, and strengthened by daily communion with God. Walking in newness of life means seeking holiness, loving righteousness, and depending on the Lord every day, knowing that without Him we can do nothing.
Brethren, the truth is that we can no longer be the same, we must remove everything that does not please the Lord from our lives, but we must also know that when we sin we have a lawyer called Jesus Christ.
This does not give us a license to sin, but it gives us hope. When we fall, we do not remain on the ground; we rise again, repent, and continue forward. The Christian life is a constant process of transformation, where each day we die a little more to sin and live a little more for God, until Christ is fully formed in us.
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Dead to sin
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Disobedience to God is the cause of the pain and calamities that men and women have suffered since the beginning. The law of God, which is pure and holy, is impossible for human beings to fulfill; but it is good for us all to strive to follow his prescriptions of life, in order to be really happy people.
The Lord God does not allow anyone to transgress any commandment from his Law.
Sin is like the door into all evil in this world. If we transgress the Law, we sin and are separate from God.
Who can be in the presence of God? Those whose sins are removed from their souls, their lives.
The Bible says that without the shedding of blood there is not remission of sins.
The Lord Jesus Christ had to shed his blood once and for all, to cleanse many people of their sins —yes, those who believe in Him.
The Lord God has promised, as a free gift, to give us everlasting life if our sins are removed, by the grace of Jesus Christ, by faith in Him who has given himself up for us.
When we are cleansed of our sins by the mercy of God, by his grace, we are dead to sin. So we must not go on to be ensnared in new sins; the ancient things have passed away; now we are new creatures by the grace of Jesus Christ.
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2)
Because the sin of many abounded, the grace of God was ready to pardon them too; and therefore now we are dead to sin. And since Christ has cleansed us of them all for ever, we must not and cannot live any longer in those sins that God forbids.
We are called to be new creatures by the grace of Jesus Christ: to be witnesses of his works and the blessings derived from his death on the Cross of Calvary—a death which was necessary since nobody can be justified before God by their imperfect works. Jesus Christ is our Saviour.
May the Lord God help us to be faithful people to him, who loved us and had mercy on us by his grace.