It is an obvious fact that when a Christian dies and goes to heaven he is completely delivered from the power of sin. It is manifestly impossible that sin can have any power or authority over a dead man. But it is not so readily seen that the believer, at the present time, is as thoroughly delivered from the power of sin as though he were dead and gone to heaven.
Sin has no more dominion over a Christian than over a man who is actually dead and buried.
We speak of the power, not of the presence of sin. Carefully note this. There is, regarding the question of sin, this material difference between the Christian here and hereafter.
Here, he is delivered only from the power of sin; hereafter, he will be freed from its presence. In his present condition, sin dwells in him; but it is not to reign. By and by, it will not even dwell there. The reign of sin is over. The reign of grace has begun.
Sin was condemned on the Cross. Now grace is on the throne. “Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). Glorious deliverance! Blessed emancipation! May you enter into it, and live in the power of it, through the precious ministry of the Holy Spirit!
And, be it carefully observed, the Apostle is not speaking in Romans 6 of the forgiveness of sins; this he treats in chapter 3. Blessed be God, our sins are forgiven–blotted out–eternally canceled. However, in chapter 6 the theme is not forgiveness of sins, but complete deliverance from sin, as a ruling power or principle.
How do we obtain this immense boon? By death. We have died to sin–died in the death of Christ. Is this true of every believer? Yes, of every believer beneath the canopy of heaven. Is it a matter of attainment? By no means. It belongs to every child of God, every true believer. It is the common standing of all. Blessed, holy standing! All praise and homage to Him who has earned it for us, and brought us into it. We live under the glorious reign of grace–“grace which reigns through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:21).
This glorious emancipating truth is little understood by the Lord’s people. Comparatively few get beyond the forgiveness of sins. They do not see their full deliverance from the power of sin; they feel its presence; and, arguing from their painful feeling, instead of reckoning themselves to be what God tells them they are, they are plunged into doubt and fear as to their conversion. They are occupied with their own self-consciousness, instead of Christ. They are looking at their state in order to get peace and comfort. Hence they are, and must be, miserable. The very highest spiritual state could never form the basis of peace. We shall never get peace if we seek it in our state, our condition, our experience, our anything. The way to get peace is to believe that we died with Christ; were buried with Him; are justified in Him; accepted in Him. In short, that, “as He is, so are we in this world” (1 Jn. 4:17). This is the divine basis of peace.
And not only so, but it is the only divine secret of a holy life. We are dead to sin. We are not called to make ourselves dead. We are so in Christ. A monk, an ascetic, or an ardent striver after sinless perfection, may try to put sin to death by various bodily exercises. What is the inevitable result? Misery, yes, misery in proportion to the earnestness. How different is true Christianity. We start with the blessed knowledge that we are dead to sin; and in the faith of this, we “mortify” not the body, but its “deeds.” In this way you may enter, by faith, into the power of this full deliverance today.