The Invitation

One of the great paradoxes of successful Christian living is that life follows death. Life in Jesus begins once a person dies to sin. In Romans 6, Paul explains that the person “who has died has been freed from sin” (Romans 6:7).

A dead person cannot possibly sin. Anyone who has had the sobering experience of being in close proximity to a lifeless body knows there is no noise loud enough to wake the dead. Tempting a dead person elicits no response.

It cannot. The individual is dead.

This truth is what makes Paul’s counsel so important in the day-to-day Christian life. He says, “Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (verse 11). In the physical realm, no person can declare himself or herself to be dead. But in the spiritual life, we are instructed to do so.

We are to “reckon” that we are dead to sin.

And the reckoning makes it so.

The man who is tempted to slander his neighbor can find nothing within himself to keep him from falling into that sin.

The woman tempted to lie may feel compelled to do so, recognizing her complete inability to do otherwise. But should that person be dead to sin, the sin will not be committed. In fact, it cannot without the individual, at that moment, choosing to let go of faith in Jesus. The question that needs to be answered is, “How does a person experience ‘deadness’ in that crucial moment?” The answer is, one “reckons” one is dead. When you believe it is so, then it is so. Those who reckon they are dead to sin are indeed dead to sin through the working of the Holy Spirit. When tempted to sin, reckon —believe— that you are dead to sin, and sin shall not “reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts” (verse 12). An essential key to a successful Christian life is considering yourself to be dead to sin and allowing Jesus to be alive in you.