“Dead to Sin”
In the last post I said the phrase “dead to sin” has a twofold meaning. The first one was forensic, meaning that which pertains to a court of law. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins in God’s court and we are no longer held accountable for them. In this post I will cover the second part of this twofold meaning. “We are dead to sin” means we are dead to sin’s dominion. By dominion I mean its power, its domineering reign or authority. This does not mean we actually do not sin anymore. We all know we still sin. Christians can and do live after the flesh.
False Views
Some say it means a Christian should abstain from sin, from which came the expression “We are to die more and more to sin.” This is good and right and agreeable to Christian doctrine but is not the meaning here. It says “we are dead to sin,” in verse two. Again in verse 11, it says “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin.” Being dead to sin can not be a proper expression for meaning dying more and more to sin. If we are dead we can not be more and more dead.
Right View
This phrase refers to a condition or a state that Christians are in. We are free from the yoke of a rigorous lord, under whose dominion we were. There was a power or a force or and energy that we have been freed from. Sin is represented in Romans as reigning, in 5:21, but now grace reigns in the same manner. Grace so greatly abounds that it puts an end to the reign of sin. In verse 14 Paul says, “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” Verse17 and verse 20 says, “We were slaves to sin.” Sin is stated as having dominion, such as a lord or master has over his slaves. But now because of the work of Christ we have been set free from the slavery that sin had over us.
Free
Rom. 6:7 says, we have been “made free from sin.” Again in verse 18 Paul says, “Being then made free from sin.” Verse 22, “But now being made free from sin.” And last, Rom. 8:2 “The law of the Spirit of life hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” All of this gives us sufficient proof to believe that “we being dead to sin” means we have been made free from the reign and dominating power of sin.
Use
Even though we have been made free from sin’s dominion, we can still in practice continue under its prevailing influence. We are now free agents from sin’s domination, but in us there is still a considerable remainder of corruption to fight against. Since this is true, why does Paul use the word “dead”? It would seem that “dead” implies not more fighting against sin’s power. Jesus Christ inflicted a mortal wound on this power over us. It is now in the process of dying and it will completely die, but not until we are in heaven with Jesus Christ.
In the mean time, God has provided effectual means for preserving us from continuing in sin’s power. So why do we as believers, who have been made free from the dominion of sin, live in the practice of it? Because we have not properly learned the method of spiritual growth, the means of obtaining the gifts that Christ has stored up for us, that is, our inheritance.
Thank you, that clears up my earlier question a bit in my mind.