A Change of Kingdoms

Romans 6:6–7 CSB

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin.

How many of us have a basic desire to live a life of holiness only to come to the conclusion that it’s beyond our reach? Maybe we don’t live in gross sin, but we’ve come to terms with living a life of moral mediocrity. Do the strong commands to holiness we find in Scripture simply frustrate us? Have we sought to live a holy life under our own willpower? Have you ever labored in frustration of a particular sin, seemingly to no avail? Certainly Christian bookstores are not lacking for books on the key to living a life of victory concerning one sin or another.

We feel upon conversion that, “Hey, I’ll read the Bible and learn what God wants and I’ll do it…end of story.” Only, that’s not the end of story. A mentor or our pastor, maybe someone we look up to in the faith, they tell us to “stop trying and start trusting” and “let go and let God” because our problem is that we trying to live the Christian life by the power of the flesh.

But, if we can be truly honest with self and each other, does that really work?! The victory still eludes us. We still find ourselves doing battle with the same old same old…pride, jealousy, materialism, impatience, lust…you name it. I still eat too much, waste my time, and indulge a dozen other sins all while hating myself for it. I mean, is my sinful nature deeper and worse than yours?

What if I were to tell you there is certainly provisions made for us by God, but there are certainly things that we are responsible for in the sanctification process as well?

Romans 6:12 CSB

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.

We are commanded to “not let sin reign” in us. We play an active role in the holiness process. This is not justification, but the practice of becoming holy.

But, the whole verse starts with the word therefore. Paul’s command is based on facts he has just stated.

What are the facts that Paul alludes to? “Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply?” The answer: “Absolutely not!” Why? We have “died to sin” so how can we “still live in it?” (Rom.6:1-2 “What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”)

Romans 6:3–12 CSB

Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him, because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.

What does it mean to have died to sin?

Dying to sin is a result of our union with Christ, so it is not something we do but that Christ has done.

We are dead to sin whether we realize it or not. It is an objective reality of being united with Jesus.

We must “consider” or reckon ourselves dead to sin. This is deeper than just thinking it, but willing it, for vv.11 and 12 are connected.

Our will must be influenced by the fact that we have died to sin.

We once were in the kingdom of darkness under the rule of sin and influence of Satan. Now we are dead to the dominion of sin’s rule, turned from the power of Satan to the power of God.

We have been delivered form the kingdom of sin, but while living under that kingdom’s dominion and living in a world under Satan’s sway, we develop sinful habits and characteristics. And though we’ve been delivered from their power, that nature still lives in us.

Think of it like two factions waring for control of a country. One side has gained the victory through outside help, but the losing side did not simply withdraw its troops. Instead, it resorted to guerilla tactics. It didn’t withdraw its troops, only adjusted its strategy.

Our sinful nature adopts a sort of guerilla tactic to lead us into sin. Gal.5:17 “For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.” And, we are sinners from birth, developing habits of sin from the beginning. Jay Adams said, “We were born sinners, but it took practice to develop our particular styles of sinning. The old life was disciplined (trained) toward ungodliness.”

You see this with ball players who have a surgically repaired joint. They hold back on that joint, fearful of a future injury and unsure of how the repair will hold up.

“Christians tend to sin out of habit. It is our habit to look out for ourselves instead of others, to retaliate when injured in some way, and to indulge the appetites of our bodies. It is our habit to live for ourselves and not for God. When we become Christians, we do not drop all this overnight. In fact, we will spend the rest of our lives putting off these habits and putting on habits of holiness.”

Not only do we fight against our own habits and sinful nature, but the world around us is inhabited by people still living under sin’s dominion. This world tries to conform us to its sinful mold.

Martin Lloyd-Jones essentially says in his commentary on Romans 6 that even though sin cannot reign in the Christian’s essential personality, if it is left unchecked, it certainly will rule in our mortal bodies (i.e., the lives we live).

The natural instincts of our bodies will turn to lust.

The natural appetites of our bodies will turn to indulgence.

The natural need for clothing and shelter will turn into materialism.

So, we cannot “let sin reign” in our mortal bodies. Such a command would have been futile without our death to sin through our union with Christ and His death on the cross. Before, we had no choice but to remain in sin for we lived under its dominion. Now, we keep our freedom from sin in the forefront as a reminder that there is a choice before us and now, when we sin, we do so not as slaves to sin, but as individuals who freely choose it! (OUCH!!!)

Summary:

We have been set free from the reign and rule of sin — the kingdom of unrighteousness.

Our deliverance comes through our union with Christ and His death.

Through our union with Jesus, we have died to sin in order to live to God (Rom.6:10 “For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time; but the life he lives, he lives to God.”)

Count on the fact that we are dead to sin in order to stand up to sin’s desires and in order to say no.

In so doing, we guard against letting sin reign in our day-to-day lives.

May we not confuse the potential for resisting sin (God’s work) with the responsibility for resisting sin (our work). If we think ourselves incapable of anything BUT sin, we forsake the truth and court disaster in our pursuit of holiness.