Before we even took our first breath of life we were condemned to death. That is the penalty for all mankind born into a fallen world where sin reigns. We are all guilty of sin, and God has every right to judge us by our sin. But God is love, and it is not His desire that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9) and turn away from sin. So while death reigns in our physical world (both literal death and everything that leads to it including sickness, poverty, unrighteous behavior, etc…), by the grace of God we have been presented with a means to escape death and gain everlasting life. Where we were once dead in our sin, we now have life through Jesus Christ.
Sin entered the world through Adam, and through the sin of one we all became condemned to death (Romans 5:12). But what is sin? Looking at the actions of Adam and Eve, one could conclude that sin has to do with selfish desire. When we give in to our selfish desires, or put our desires above God and His Word, then we are in sin and therefore dead through our transgressions. Sin is also falling short of God’s perfect standard. Sin abounded through Adam, but it wasn’t until God gave the Law through Moses that mankind understood that which is sin. No one could keep the entirety of the Law in their own strength or by their own power, and this showed mankind that we would always fall short when it came to God’s perfect standard. This highlighted our need for a savior to remove death’s grip over our lives.
God gave us His only Son out of His love for us, and He did this so we would no longer have to endure separation from Him because of the reign of sin in our world. Through Jesus we are no longer subject to death because of our sins, but instead have eternal life through Him. We were condemned to death through the sin of Adam, but were given life through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Romans 5:18 says, “So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is life-giving justification for everyone.” Jesus’ righteous act justified us in the eyes of God and so we are declared right with God. In the world we have been born into sin reigns in death. However, when we believe on Jesus, grace will reign through righteousness and the result will be eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:21).
Jesus died to sin once for all (Romans 6:10) and our old self with our previous sinful nature was crucified with Him so that sin’s grip on our body would be abolished (Romans 6:6). We have a new life in Christ, and we have been made alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11). Our new life, our eternal life, begins the day we accept Jesus as our savior. This is our true “birth” day because it is the day that we can officially say to death that it can no longer lay claim to us. We need to be thankful each day that we can walk in freedom from sin and death, and rejoice in the eternal life that God has provided for us through the sacrifice of His Son.
The Truth in Action: Many people who accept Jesus as their Savior don’t understand that it is our spirit, one third of our total being, that is completely new and exactly as Jesus is. We can’t see our spirit, we can’t touch it or feel it, so many people don’t see their perfected and sinless selves. Instead, they go by what they can see or feel, and because we can still feel our sinful nature in the daily temptations we face, we question what has changed. We have to understand that the other two thirds of our being consists of our soul (emotions, mind, conscience) and our body (our actual flesh). Many new believers tend to give up on Jesus because they don’t feel like they have changed in any way. The only way we can see our perfected spirit is by looking into the mirror of God’s Word. Only God’s Word will tell us who we really are. We need to take time each day to look in God’s mirror to see ourselves as God sees us.
Spend time with God each day learning who you are in Christ by reading His Word. Then you will start believing that you have been made righteous through Christ and that you are dead to sin.
Meditate on Scripture: Romans 6:3-4 (NIV) – 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.
Further Study: Read chapters 3-6 in the book of Romans. As you read, ask yourself these questions:
- What was the purpose of the Law?
- Who is considered a sinner?
- Does the Law make us justified to God? If not, how do we become justified?
- How do we obtain righteousness?
- What was Adam’s impact on the world? Jesus’?
- Explain our new life in Christ.