DEAD RECKONING

"What, then, shall we declare? That we may be persisting in sin that grace should be increasing" (Rom.6:1)? Very few real believers who have glimpsed God's grace would wish to be credited with making such a selfish and soulish statement as this, but almost any candid Christian will admit that, in spite of sincere efforts to the contrary, sin still does persist in his life, staining his service and undermining his witness.

The only answer, Paul tells us, is to be dead to sin. He explains what he means in the sixth chapter of Romans, which we will use to guide us in this study. "We, who died to sin, how shall we still be living in it" (Rom.6:2)?

THE DEAD NOT TEMPTED

Most will acknowledge that temptations do not trouble a dead man. Sin is then no longer possible. He is beyond its reach; his eyes no longer strain to see the things they should not, his ears no longer seek forbidden sounds, his hands lie limp, powerless to grasp the untouchable. His lips at last are silenced; they can utter no more falsehoods nor unkind words.

But while all this is true of a dead man, it can hardly apply to us, for we are not dead. The very fact that we can read these lines proves that we are very much alive. And though we desire to live for Christ, we find ourselves powerless, try as we will. Our eyes and ears may still be lured, our tongues continue their careless conversations.

THE WRONG VIEWPOINT

Paul declares that we have the wrong perspective. Have we looked at it from God's viewpoint? Do we really realize all that took place when Christ was crucified? God's Word declares that, as believers, we have been baptized into Christ Jesus, and this includes being baptized into His death. In this baptism, we have participated in all that Christ did on the cross. He died. So did we. He was entombed. We also. And even as Christ was roused from among the dead through the glory of the Father, thus we also should be walking in newness of life. What a baptism this is—placing us in Christ! This is no mere ceremonial rite in water, but a reality in spirit. And nothing is as real as God's declaration.

AS GOD SEES US

We have been presented holy and flawless and unimpeachable in His sight (Col.1:22). This is how we look from God's vantage point. And this is not simply wishful thinking on our part, but rather faithfully accepting God's declaration as He has stated it.

Here, in Paul's own words, written under inspiration, is what we must do: "Thus you also, be reckoning yourselves to be dead, indeed, to Sin, yet living to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord" (Rom.6:11).

RECKON TO BE DEAD

What does it mean, to "reckon yourself to be dead?" To reckon something is to acknowledge, by faith, that it is so. This is what God asks us to do. Our belief must not depend on our "feelings," for we "feel" very much alive, but on God's dependable declaration that this is so. The secret is not in vainly trying to overcome sin. The secret is not in daily dying to sin. Significantly, Paul never tells us to be dying to sin. This would be impossible in these mortal bodies. Anything that depends on our own efforts, even if it is to "die," is doomed to failure. Paul chooses his words carefully and we should observe them accurately. We are not to die, but to accept God's statement that we are already dead, and alive again, in Christ Jesus.

PARTICIPATION WITH CHRIST

Christ died. We can believe that. He was entombed. He rose again. But God tells us to reckon that, by baptism into Him, we also participated. "Now if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall be living together with Him also." Not only at some future time—but also right now! He is living resurrection life, right now. We are invited to share this privilege with Him, in spirit, right now!

Christ died to Sin once and for all time. This does not only mean that He died for our individual sins, although it is true that He paid the penalty that was rightfully ours for each and every one. But Christ died to Sin (capital "S") once and for all time; Sin personified as the force within humanity's flesh which renders it unable to please God (Rom.8:8). What a grand thought! Christ not only died for our sins (plural), but He has died to Sin (literally the Sin, singular) and has deposed it from its absolute monarchy over mankind, and this once and for all time! No wonder Death is lording it over Him no longer! With Sin out of the picture, Death is powerless. Now Christ is free to be living, and He is now living to God.

But here's the joyful news! We share His victory! By faith we appropriate all that is His as our own. So if we can believe that He died to Sin, we can reckon ourselves to be dead, also. Our spirits can rejoice in the freedom imparted to them by faith's acceptance of God's declaration. In order to enjoy this resurrection life, in order to reckon ourselves to be dead, indeed, to Sin, we must believe what God tells us is true. Reckoning depends on faith.

God says we have been baptized into Christ. We are to believe it. God says that this included being baptized into His death. And by participation in this death we are now freed of our slavery to Sin and Death, so that by faith we may enjoy living to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We have God's Word that it has happened, and we have His spirit within testifying that it is, indeed, true.

"Let not Sin, then, be reigning in your mortal body, for you to be obeying its lusts. Nor yet be presenting your members, as implements of injustice, to Sin, but present yourselves to God, as if alive from among the dead, and your members as implements of righteousness to God" (Rom.6:12,13).

"Now if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall be living together with Him also, having perceived that Christ, being roused from among the dead, is no longer dying. Death is lording it over Him no longer, for in that He died, He died to Sin once [and] for all, yet in that He is living, He is living to God. Thus you also, be reckoning yourselves to be dead, indeed, to Sin, yet living to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord" (Rom.6:8-11).

Now, since we do believe that we died together, we may also believe that we are living together with Him, living to God as He is. He has conquered Sin, and we, in Him, share His victory. Only ignorance or unbelief can keep us from enjoying it now!

May our God grant us the wisdom and faith necessary to grasp and believe these precious truths, that we might present ourselves to Him as if alive from among the dead and our members as implements of righteousness to Him for His use.

Contributed