“knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”[1]
Romans 6:6-7
One of the truths that I frequently confess to Christ is, Lord, I hate sin, but I am so good at doing it. Although I would like to think that I am the only one who confesses this to Christ, I know that I’m not. We all struggle with sin. I like how David speaks about this issue in the fifty-first chapter of Psalms. Verse three states, “For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me.”[2] The verb know is imperfect and tells us the action is not completed. David is telling us that he continues to see his transgressions. We need to make sure we do not let that slip by us. The word transgressions is plural. David is not talking about one sin but multiple sins. David also admits to something else that reaches me in the marrow of my bones. He lets us know that his sin is ever before him. This means it gnaws at him filling him with pangs of guilt and misery. I relate to what David is saying because I often walk in those shoes and feel that I am a slave to sin.
Yet, that is not what Christ wants for us. In Romans 6:6-7, He tells us that we are no longer slaves to sin. We are no longer slaves to sin because we are crucified with Christ. This means our old sinful self is done away with, making us free from sin. We become free from sin by asking Christ to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). The only condition to receiving Christ’s forgiveness is that we need to come before Him with a broken and crushed heart (Psalms 51:17).
The next time we struggle with sin and with receiving the forgiveness of Christ, let us remember what Paul writes in Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”[3]
[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.