Are you dead?

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 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.

“⁵For 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.

“⁸Now 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 our Lord. 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. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace,” (Romans 6:1-14).

Have you ever struggled with the things you do that you do not want to do as Paul mentioned in Romans 7:14-24? How many times have you decided not to criticise, or not to retaliate, or not to defend yourself, or not to be nasty with your body language, or not to return to your pet sin or idol? Maybe you have decided to live more for Jesus and less for your material desires, but struggle to sacrifice your time for the sake of those that need you because you cling to your comfortable lifestyle.

The problem is that we set up our lives to be in control and therefore, however hard we try to live without sin, including the sin of making our own decisions, we do not succeed. I have desired to live outright for the Lord - under His control and in obedience - for a long time now, and since I have set out in the attempt to master it, I have received real understanding of where Paul was at as recorded in Romans 7:14-24. It is especially difficult to control the feelings, thoughts and the tongue toward those with whom I have relationship challenges and in relationships where pride tends to rise.

Since I am in serious pursuit of holiness and to be right with God, I fasted and prayed about this and the Lord said to me: “You’re not dead.” Suddenly it struck me – a dead man cannot retaliate, be proud, be critical, be full of material lusts or be selfish. A dead man can be slapped, kicked, criticised, be shouted at, and so on, but he will not respond. If I am dead in myself, but alive in Christ, I look at myself from inside of Christ and tell my flesh: ‘I am alive and will act like Christ would, but you are dead’. I then asked the Lord how do I die to sin and self.

“Ask me to teach you,” He said. Now, please think carefully before you ask this off the Lord, but if you do, expect to be challenged and for things to happen in your life that will help your carnal nature to move out of the way. I am looking forward to the result though. Maybe you can witness below if you had death-to-the-flesh experiences. If you as a kernel of grain die, you will produce much fruit.

“Jesus replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me,’” (John 12:23-26).

If your life, in other words your lifestyle, desires and behaviour, stand in the way of the Lord accomplishing His desires for you, you need to lose (hate) your (current) life (John 12:25) so you can take up His life (Romans 6:8-10).

Father, teach me to die so I could live only for You and bear much fruit.