Hey Christian… YOU are Alive in Christ! The Apostle Paul used those positive words to create an image and say that all believers are "alive to God in Christ."
Furthermore, he insists that this magnificent transition from hopelessness which is like death, to a life filled with joy, and the promise of eternity has already taken place—really and truly—in the death and resurrection of Christ.
How so? It has happened in the spiritual realm…”heaven.” And that means, of course, that we can't witness this change with our naked eyes. If you became a Christian on Sunday, you might not feel all that different on Wednesday. It's true that some new believers are immediately and radically delivered from previous sins. Some of us grew up on a steady diet of hearing personal testimonies of people transformed: a man was an alcoholic and philanderer until one day—wham—just like that he makes a clean start as he gave his life to Christ, was immersed and made a 180 degree turn in his life. For most of us, becoming a Christian may be much less dramatic. But that makes it no less real.
Paul knew very well that his readers were likely converts of the less dramatic sort. In fact, that's the point of his entire discussion in Romans chapter 6. After explaining the metaphysical realities of our association with Christ in his death and resurrection, Paul brings the point home. "In the same way," he writes, "count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 6:11). In other words, it's not enough simply to know that we are new creations; we have to embrace the concept, and that means changing our behavior.
Paul gives two commands to be considered… "do not let sin reign" in your bodies and "Do not offer any part of yourself to sin" (vv. 12- 13). To keep on sinning would be inconsistent with your new character as one who is "dead to sin." It would be a bit like speaking in a phony accent. To be dead to sin means sin is alien to us. It's out of character. The things of sin slowly but certainly pass out of our focus and desire.
What Paul is getting at here is that we have to take active steps in order to stop sinning. The power of sin is broken, which means that we can have success in our striving against sin. Our shackles have been unlocked. But we have to take the steps to leave the dungeon. In other words, all our struggles and weaknesses don't vanish when we become Christians. The life of faith will always involve temptation. It will also likely include falling short. But we can struggle knowing that victory is secured in Christ.
In other places, Paul uses the metaphor of clothing to describe the way Christians ought to think about their relationship to sin. He encourages them to "take off" the old nature (sin) and "put on" virtues appropriate for a new creation in Christ (Eph. 4:22-32; Col. 3:8-10). This is more easily said than done. Old habits die hard. If we want to let Christ reign in our lives through the Holy Spirit, then we have to make a concerted effort to abandon the behaviors that characterize being dead to sin.
For centuries, Christians have used spiritual disciplines such as prayer and fasting to achieve a life of victory over sin. The disciplines orient the heart and will toward Christ and weaken the power of sin. They aren't magic spells. And they don't accomplish anything on their own. God uses them to do his work in us.
The disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that he can transform us. All this is to say that actively "putting off" our old, sinful behaviors and "putting on" the new behaviors characteristic of life in Christ help break our sin habits and desires. Spiritual disciplines give the Holy Spirit a chance to produce spiritual fruit in our lives. If you are a Christian who continues to struggle with sin you just can't shake, don't lose hope.
Don't buy the world's message that sin is inevitable. Take heart from Paul's extraordinary claim: "you have been raised with Christ" (Col. 3:1)! As far as God is concerned, you are dead to sin, freed from its power.
Like the prodigal son who finally looked up from the mud and slop of the pigsty to realize that he did not belong there. Embrace your identity as a child of God made alive to, in and by Christ. Live your life knowing God has already won the victory.
