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ALIVE or DEAD This chart contrasts the relationships which one who is regenerated has in his or her absolutely new life in The Christ with the relationships which every unregenerated one has and which the regenerated one had before repenting and totally committing continual trust in Him. On the chart above is a circle. Outside the circle at the top are the words “DEAD TO GOD”. Directly underneath the word “DEAD” is the word “IN” and underneath that is the word “SIN.” Every living human being is born in Sin (Ps. 51:5; Rom. 5:12; 1 Kings 8:46; Ezek. 18:4; Jn. 8:44; Gal. 3:22) and are dead in Sin (and sins) and dead to The God (Eph. 2:1-4; 2 Cor. 5:14; Rom. 8:7-13) and bond slaves to Sin and Satan (Jn. 8:34 APT; Rom. 6:17-22 APT) until regenerated by The Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13; Rom. 8:9). Inside the circle at the top are the words “ALIVE IN CHRIST.” Outside and to the left of the circle are the words “DEAD TO CHRIST.” Outside the circle at the lower right hand corner are the words “ALIVE TO SIN.” Now every one outside of Christ is dead to God, dead to Christ, and dead in Sin and at the same time alive to Sin. When one comes in repentance and totally commits trust to the Lord Jesus Christ to embrace Him as Lord and Savior, he or she is placed in the circle of grace or placed ‘in Christ’ by God. And immediately when he or she is regenerated he or she becomes alive to God and alive in Christ. But at the same time God sees him as dead to sin (Rom. 6:2,8,11). Inside the circle at the bottom are the words “DEAD TO SIN”. The Lord Jesus Christ said that the one continually committing trust in Him “is passed from death unto life” (Jn. 5:24). The word “LIFE” is in the center of the circle and the word “DEATH” is at the upper right, outside the circle. The one repenting and completely trusting in The Christ continually passes out of the realm of death into the realm of absolute life in Christ. Paul contrasts light with the power of darkness and states that we are translated into the Kingdom of His Dear Son (Col. 1:12,13). Under the word “DEATH” are the words “POWER OF DARKNESS” and beneath that phrase is “KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD” (Jn. 18:36). Under the word “LIFE,” is the word “LIGHT” and beneath it, is the phrase “KINGDOM OF HIS DEAR SON.” Now, if you have repented of your sins and your sinful way, confessed your guilt as a sinner to God and cried for mercy, and by faith received The Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, asking Him to live His life through you and are begotten of The Holy Spirit, you are alive ‘in Christ.’ What God sees, is that you died together with Christ when He was crucified on Calvary on Friday, 14 Nisan (April 2), A.D. 33 (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20; 6:14). Our sins were imputed to Him there and His righteousness is imputed to us when we totally commit continuing trust to Him (2 Cor. 5:21). How do we die to sin? We need to take these four steps according to Romans 6:1-16. First, Recognize what The God sees (Rom. 6:1-10). He sees ‘the old (hu)man of ours’ (that is our past life dominated by our sinful nature subservient to Satan) “crucified together with The Christ so that the body belonging to Sin become ineffective so that we no longer continue serving as a bondslave to Sin” (v. 6). Second, Reckon What God Says (Rom. 6:11). We are to count (reckon) ourselves to be dead indeed unto Sin. Look at the chart above. God not only sees you as dead. He says you are dead if indeed you are in Christ. ‘‘If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away [the old life is dead]: behold all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Now here is where you begin to give evidence that you are born again. You must reckon what God says to be a reality in your life. You do this by faith--the same kind of faith you exercised to receive The Lord Jesus Christ and eternal life. If you will learn this lesson now, you will save yourself much heartache and anguish as well as a defeated life. (No one ever explained this to me and it took over twenty years for me to learn the secret of living the kind of life God intended--a life of victory and not defeat.) When you reconcile your bank statement, you find the error in your calculations and bring your check book balance to agree with the total amount that the bank says is your balance. God says you are dead to Sin and alive ‘in Christ.’ Now you must bring your life to agree with that. In order to do this, sometimes I must talk with myself. I have to say, “Fred, you are dead! Old man, lie down there and be dead. Lord, I yield to Thee. Take control in my life.” How else can one reckon self to be dead? Once you reckon what God says, you can take the third step. But do not skip step two! Do not attempt step three with out taking step two first! It will NOT work! Third, Refuse What Sin Seeks (Rom. 6:12). Sin seeks to reign in your mortal body. It wants to retain the control over you that it always had, before you came to Christ. In no way does it want to give up the dominion, control, and reign over you. But you must see that “. . . the Sin is to stop reigning in the mortal body of yours” (Rom. 6:12 APT). Refuse to permit Sin to have its way with you! Fourth, Yield to Christ (Rom. 6:13,16). The secret of victory over the lusts of the flesh is to yield. Learn this lesson well now. This five letter word is the key to success in this absolute life ‘in Christ.’ You cannot follow Christ, unless you deny self, die to self and to sin, and yield to Christ. “You& are aware, are you & not? That to whom you& yield yourselves bondslaves unto obedience, you & are bondslaves to whom you& are continually obeying, either[restrictive, one of two; this first. naturally] to Sin unto death, or to obedience unto righteousness?” (Rom. 6:16 APT). If you really want to live physically and enjoy life ( both physically and spiritually), you must yield in obedience to God. Constant failure to do this will end in physical death (Rom. 8:13). The result of dying to self, to Sin, and to the world is that no longer will you be
enslaved to Sin. You will be free to willingly serve The Lord Jesus Christ as His
sanctified bondslave, totally His.
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