Three friends from the local congregation were asked, "When you're in your casket, and friends and congregation members are mourning over you, what would you like them to say?" Artie said: "I would like them to say I was a wonderful husband, a fine spiritual leader, and a great family man." Eugene commented: "I would like them to say I was a wonderful teacher and servant of God who made a huge difference in people's lives." Don said: "I'd like them to say, 'Look, he's moving!'"
Dead people do not get up and walk around. I hate to tell you this but The Walking Dead is not Science Fiction, its Fantasy. Dead is dead. There is no in between. Either a person is still alive or they are dead. Oh sure, a person can be mostly dead. But then that’s when you need Miracle Max to give you a magic pill coated in chocolate to bring you back to mostly alive. But still, there is death and there is life.
The difference between death and life is what Paul addressed in Romans chapter 5. The old man (Adam) introduced death. But the new Man (Jesus) provided life. And if a person accepts the sacrifice of Jesus they are given eternal life. Even though the body dies, a person who has been spiritually reborn will be in the presence of God for the rest of eternity. God is the giver of life. To be with Him is to be fully alive. To be banished from His presence is death.
Now I know this can be a rather difficult concept to understand. We look around us and see life. But Satan has hypnotized us into believing that what we see and experience in this world is life. However, the truth which Satan does not want us to see is that we are in bondage. We are slaves. We are held captive and don’t even know it. Satan has cast a spell, and we naively believe that living separated from God is freedom. But this simply is not true. We are slaves to sin and slaves to death. However, God, in His infinite mercy, has provided a way to break free from the bondage of death; to break the shackles of slavery, and find the freedom to choose. Before we met Jesus we had no choice. But because of Jesus, you and I have the freedom to choose; to either remain dead or choose life.
To choose life is to identify yourself with Jesus. To choose life is to leave death behind. Yet if this is what a person has chosen, why in the world do they still cling to death? Why would a person who is free from bondage still live like a slave? Why would a Christian allow themselves to be held captive by sin after Christ has set them free? This is the question Paul asks in Romans chapter six. There is a big difference between a dead body and one that is alive. There should be a big difference between the actions of a person still dead in sin and the person who has been made alive through faith in Christ (Read Romans 6:1-14).
There is a key word in this section which is found at the end of verse 4; “we also may live new lives”. Paul's use of the word "May" in this verse indicates a freedom we did not previously possess. Prior to being born again we were prisoners to sin. We had no choice. But since we have become Christians through faith in Jesus, we now have an option. We have a choice. Yet how many of us make the choice to still be bound by sin. How many of us remain slaves to the very sins which held us captive even though Christ has set us free.
Look closely at verse 11 here. “Consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus”. Paul's point here is that our actions indicate who holds us captive. If (since) we are Christians, Jesus has broken the shackles of sin that held us captive. So we ought to be living as if we are indeed free. But if we continue to practice the same sins that once held us captive, who then is our master?
A popular argument in the world today is to claim that we are who we are. Among the homosexual community I often hear the phrase “God made me this way”. But the point Paul has been making up till now is that we have been made in the image of sin. Adam and Eve may have been created in God’s image, but you and I have been born in the image and likeness of Adam after he sinned. Consequently we all are born with sin’s mark in our lives and had no choice. However, if we become a believer, the shackles of sin are removed, and we finally do have a choice. We have a choice to become obedient to the commands of God. Sin is no longer our master, and we ought to be living in a way that demonstrates God is our Master.
This is the whole point to what Paul is saying in this section. When a person is set free from the bondage of sin and death, they are no longer slaves to sin. For the first time in their life they have a choice. They can either choose righteousness and obedience and holiness, or still allow sin to control the way they live. The unsaved do not have this choice, but Christians do.
So when we allow sin to wields its power in our lives we are following the wrong desires. But why would a Christian hang on to the old life and the old sins even after Christ has set them free? In other words, if a person has found life, why in the world would they desire the things of death? And don’t start blaming others for the sin in your life. It is not God’s fault that you struggle with sin and no, the Devil didn’t make you do it. You made a choice. You made the choice to allow sin to hold you captive. As a Christian you do have a choice. You are no longer a slave to sin. So make the decision today to “Stop letting sin reign”.
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