Have you died?

Have you died?

     We will all die one day physically.  But, have you died before then?  If you are a Christian, then you have already died.  "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? ²May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" (Rom. 6:1-2).  Christians have died to sin.  The Greek aorist tense (past tense) suggests that this death happened and was completed in the past.  When did it happen?  It happened at your salvation.  So what is Paul saying here especially since if we have died to sin, we still struggle with it?  Why is it that sin seems so pervasive, so powerful, and so persistent?  Haven't we repented of countless sins countless times, some of them the same ones over and over again?  Absolutely.  So, if we have died to sin, why is it still alive in us?
     The truth is that if you are a Christian, if you have trusted in Jesus who is God in flesh as your Savior and reject any of your own works as a contribution to your salvation, but you rely completely and totally on Christ's sacrifice, then you have died to sin.  You have died through the identification with Christ on the Cross because as a Christian, you are "in Christ." "Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus," (Rom. 6:11).  Also, see Rom. 8:1-2, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death."
     Death in the Bible is not the cessation of existence.  It is separation.  Physical death does not mean we stop existing; we continue on in the next life.  Spiritual death means separation from God, eternally.  Therefore, your death to sin is your separation from it.  It is the separation from the power it has to damn you and to rule over you.  It also means that because you are in Christ and Christ is in you, you have the power to resist sin where before you did not.
     Yes, we still sin.  Yes, we still struggle.  But our struggle against sin proves that we are not dead in our sins.  Instead we are alive in Christ.  Only those who are alive struggle for life and we Christians certainly struggle for our life in Christ apart from sin.  So, take courage and consolation by knowing that your struggle for holiness is pleasing to God and is also a sign of your salvation, something bought for by Jesus did on the cross.
     Therefore, you are not to live in sin.  You are not to live in fornication.  You are not to live in compromise.  You are not to live as though the grace of God will take care of your sins in such a way as to say that it is okay to sin just a little, or just a little more.  No.  You are dead to sin and are not to live after the ways of the flesh.  You are not to compromise our Christian walk.  You are to stand for righteousness.  If you are a Christian and you claim the name of Christ, then walk in righteousness.  Walk in the manner that Jesus walked.  Stand for truth and stand against sin. "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, ¹⁵ but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; ¹⁶ because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy,'” (1 Pet. 1:14-16).