Romans 6:1-13 Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?  Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.  The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.  Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

These are the passages of sanctification.  They tell us that whatever was accomplished by Jesus was for  us to imitate.  Jesus raised from the dead and we will as well.  Jesus lived for righteousness, and so do we.  Jesus was crucified and we must crucify our flesh.  The evidence of our victory in Christ is our body and what we do with it.  The spirit must reign over the body so that we become slaves to righteousness and not to sin.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, for the benefit of my friends, let me explain how this victory can come to pass.  It is a matter of yielding.  Failure comes by yielding to the flesh, but victory comes to yielding to the Spirit so that we may live godly lives as we are called to do.  Amen.