Week 43 Romans 6
Paul says that one of the invisible things that happens when I embrace the Lord is that I die. And once I’m dead I’m freed from sin:
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin.
There’s obviously a different kind of dying going on here. Paul can’t be meaning that I die physically. So it has to be dying in a different-than-physical way. My death is still a really-and-truly dying…but it’s not a natural death.
And then there’s a second thing. A follow-up. When I die (in this non-physical way) then I’m free from sin. Being free from sin could mean one of two things. It could mean that I don’t sin anymore. On the surface that’s how it looks. But I don’t drill down too far before I realize that in practical and real-life terms it’s likely safer to say my freedom doesn’t mean that I quit sinning.
When I accept the Lord as my master & teacher I die a mysterious & non-natural death – death-to-sin. A death that frees me from my docile devotedness-to-sin. Free at last.
Being dead-to-sin is a huge benefit – it’s a Square One Freedom. Sure…it’s still a new & untested & abstract freedom. But it’s a huge hurdle to be over.
Note: quote from Romans 6:6-7 (CSB)