Reference: Romans 7:5-6
I just wonder how many people cantruthfully say that they are not dead in sin but rather are alive unto God. Doyou my friend know what it means to be either dead in sin or alive unto God? Ifyou are dead in sin then you can't possibly cease from obeying sin's powerfulinfluence, because you do not possess the power to overcome it. I want you tonotice the verse of scripture in Ephesians2:1 which I have used for a text,that it tells us that Christ has quickened those who are dead in sin andtrespasses.
Do you know what it means to be quickenedfrom a life of sin and trespasses? If you will read this tract carefully youcan find out whether or not you are yet dead in sin or have been quickened asGod's word reveals it. In case you don't know what it means to be quickened bythe Spirit of God then allow me to tell you what it means so that you will knowif you have been quickened from your dead in sin state.
To be quickened means to be made alive. Tobe made alive of course means we were freed from our dead state from sins powerover us. Now there are millions of people in the world today who believe thatthe apostle Paul never was set free from sin and they attempt to prove this bywhat he says in Romans 7:14-25. Now if you want to know the truth of the matter thenallow me to go to this portion of scriptures and try to prove to you that Paulwas certainly set free from the power of sin in his life and we also can be setfree like he was.
Now it seems that just about everybodytoday believes that Paul was describing his condition in the seventh chapter ofRomans after he was converted to Christ having received the Holy Spirit in hisheart. Reading in verses sixteen and seventeen of this chapter of Romans wefind Paul saying that if he did that which he did not want to do, then he saysthat it was not him that was doing it, but rather it was the sin that dwelledin his flesh.
He goes on to say in verse twenty one thatwhen he did do good, evil was yet present with him. Then in verse twenty threehe tells us that he saw another law in his members (which he is of coursereferring to his fleshly members of his body) warring against the law of hismind, and he tells us that this law brought him captive to the law of sin inhis fleshly members of his body. Now what Paul is saying here is that the sinthat dwelled in his body overpowered him and caused him to commit acts of sin.
Now these verses of scripture plainlyreveals the fact that sin most certainly had power over him and caused him tocommit sin. Now the religious world today teaches that Paul never did get freefrom this power of sin and they say that this proves that there will always bea warfare in their body against sin. They also believe that this warfare willat times cause them to fall into sin sometimes in their life. They believe thissimply because of the fact that Paul said that the sin in his flesh brought himcaptive to its power. This is very true, but what the religious world is notaware of is that Paul was definitely set free from sin's power and it could notbring him captive to it like it could when he was in the flesh and being proneto its influence. Now what I am saying and will prove to you is that theapostle Paul was set free from the sin that was in his flesh and he wasabsolutely not describing his condition after he was converted and possessedthe power of the Holy Spirit in his heart.
Please notice what Paul says in Romans 7:5-6 which is ourtext at the beginning of this tract, and notice carefully that Paul tells ushere that when we (speaking of himself and those who also have been quickened)were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were by the law, did work in ourmembers bringing forth the fruits of sin. Please note that Paul speaks of the timewhen he was in the flesh, meaning when he walked after the flesh beingprone to its desires.
Anytime Paul speaks of being in the flesh,he is talking about being under the law where sin has power over an individual.Now notice in verse six of this chapter of Romans where Paul says but now weare delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that weshould serve in newness of the spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
Now please notice that Paul plainly tellsus that he at one time was dead in sin and held captive to that position. Thistime that Paul said that he was held captive to sin and was in the flesh isexactly what Paul is talking about in verses fourteen through twenty four. Paulis describing his experience when he first came to God beginning with the timehe fell to the ground on the road to Damascus.
When a person first comes to God havingbeen led to repentance by the Spirit of God, they will have their mindsilluminated or quickened, which simply means they have been spiritually madealive by having their conscience aware of their every thought and move. Havingyour conscience quickened by the Spirit of God is the coming in of the Spirittaking up his abode in your heart. This quickening of your conscience placesyou in a condition where you will be conscious of your every action. In thiscondition you will be faced with the fact you can't do good just like theapostle Paul said he could not do in the seventh chapter of Romans.
At true repentance, which is the gift ofGod, you will want to cease from sin, but you will find out that you cannot.This experience is your conscious knowledge of knowing you have sin in yourfleshly members of your body. You will experience the fact that this sin willalso bring you into its captivity like it did to Paul. You will also have tocry out to God and ask who will deliver you from that body of death like Pauldid.
When Paul cried out asking who woulddeliver him, he goes on to say that he thanked God through Christ Jesus theLord. When Christ took up his abode in Paul's heart this was when he was setfree from the power of sin in his flesh. When he was set free, this did not endthe ordeal with sin. He possessed the power of God in his life to cease fromsin, but the sin that was yet in his flesh had to be mortified or killed out.This killing out of the sin in his flesh is the sanctification process that wemust go through. Sanctification is the cleansing of sin from our mortal bodies,which is accomplished in a daily process as we walk in the light of truth andabstain from sinful pleasures.
Having the Spirit of Christ in our heartgives us the power to overcome and stay away from sin. We are told not tocontinue in sin, which we can do simply because sin will not have power overus. We will have power over it and must abstain from it. Our abstaining fromsin will in time perfect Christ in us and we will become the new creation thatthe Bible speaks about. ( II Corinthians5:17) Are you dead in sin or alive untoGod??