When Jesus died, you died. By baptism you were buried into His death (see Romans 6:3), and that means that power of sin has been broken. His death was our death and His resurrection was our resurrection.

“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.” (Romans 6:3-7)

By faith, we identify with His work on the cross and the reality of His crucifixion becomes our own. Christ’s work makes us dead to sin and alive to God (see Romans 6:11), and we are then both commanded and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live like it.

Think for a moment, when Jesus died on that cross, you were mystically right there with Him. Your corrupted sinful nature met its death blow on that tree. What does this mean for us practically? It means we are set free from sin. We no longer have to be ruled by the darkness, but can instead be possessed by the light of God, and walk in the purity the gospel enables.

Another analogy of the destruction of our sinful nature is circumcision.

“In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.” (Colossians 2:11)

Now in the surgical procedure of circumcision, something is cut off, completely removed – no need to go into graphic details. But in the circumcision of Christ, our sinful nature is removed from us, its power broken. This then enables us to walk in newness of life, rather than the slavery of sin.

Now there seems to be a paradox in the writings of Paul, on one hand he says our sinful nature has been crucified with Christ, and on the other he writes,

“For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.” (Romans 8:13 NLT)

So wait our sinful nature is dead, but now we must put it to death? Seems confusing doesn’t it? Well we can see that at the bare minimum we are set free from sin, so whether or not we still have a sinful nature is kind of irrelevant, because we’re freed from its grip over us, and are supernaturally empowered by the Spirit of God to live a holy life.

Perhaps looking at the sinful nature as a dimension that we can operate from, may offer some understanding. We have two options, we can live in the realm of the Spirit, or we can live in the realm of the flesh. If we live in the realm of the Spirit, (which is to say immersed in the presence of God), then we are removed from the grip and influence of the sinful nature. Its like two different operating systems. In this sense, when we live in the Spirit, the flesh may very well not exist, because we are operating out a different realm. The two realities are completely removed from one another. Sin doesn’t exist in the presence of God. So if we live from the realm of the Spirit, then yes we have no flesh, in the practical sense.

“I say then walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)

Perhaps a more reasonable way to state this is not, “I have no sinful nature,” but, “I am dead to my sinful nature,” meaning its power over me is destroyed, and I can finally say no to sin, where as before the cross my “resistor” was malfunctioned. So temptations will come, and yes they may be desirable because my flesh is still functional to certain level, but I also have this epicenter of glory within my spirit that is infinitely more powerful than any fleshly craving, and therefore I can adamantly say NO, and avoid sinning all together. This is why the Apostle John could say,

“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.” (1 John 3:9)

John had caught a revelation of the power of righteousness within the believer. God inside us is stronger than sin. His nature has been embedded in our spirit. This then creates a reality in our lives where the desires of the Spirit are much more tempting than the sinful desires of the flesh. Holiness is more appealing than rebellion. Imagine being tempted by purity, being tempted to tell the truth, and craving righteousness like you do water. This is what the cross accomplishes. It is a total re-creation of the core of your identity.

Now to make it clear this lifestyle is only possible to dead men, we cannot will ourselves into this state, we must truly turn away from our sins in surrender to the Lordship of Christ, and when we receive the Holy Spirit, we are then crucified and raised to new life. There is no transformation until the old man is laid in the grave and resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit. The scriptures are spiritual realities that must be experienced supernaturally. We cannot be content with the outer-shell of the doctrine, while neglecting to tap into the inner-presence and living reality of those words. It’s not enough to believe in the truth, we must experience it firsthand. “Dead to sin,” is not poetic exaggeration, it’s a kingdom reality that must be experienced within.

The God-Nature

Man abstains but God delivers. We can try and force ourselves into righteous living by our own willpower but our zeal will soon fizzle out because the flesh counts for nothing, we can do nothing apart from Him. We may attempt abstain from sin, poorly I might add, and that’s the extent of our ability, but God delivers from the inside-out. Christ transforms us and creates a new heart within that has His nature and law written upon it.

Attempting to coerce an unregenerate heart into obedience is like forcing a dog to act like a cat. The two are completely incompatible. You cannot discipline the sinful nature into submission, you have to kill it by the power of the Holy Spirit. As I just mentioned, if we walk in the Spirit, then the sinful nature may as well not exist because we are operating out of a different realm. But we still have a free will and can choose which nature we wish to live from. We have access to the divine nature, the God-nature, and we can live out of that place every day by obeying His word and being continually immersed in the Holy Spirit.

By walking in the divine nature we experience the living reality of what Paul was speaking of when he said that we are, “Dead to sin and alive to God.” (Romans 6:11) The divine nature and the sinful nature oppose each other, and are in their own way magnetic. The more we give into sin, the stronger we feel its pull. Conversely this is true of the divine nature, the closer we walk with the Holy Spirit in fellowship, the stronger we’ll feel the magnetic force of righteousness. His virtues infuse us as we walk in His Spirit, the very character of Christ coursing through our veins!

There is a two-sided aspect to this. On the one hand we do exert effort by deliberately obeying Him, and on the other, there is an energetic thrust as His presence fills us. Both are needed! We may not always feel His presence, but that’s certainly no excuse for apathy and compromise, we should always walk as dead men in regards to this world.

Principle of Practice

Practicing righteousness everyday will awaken this tractor-beam within you that will pull you deeper into its grip. Every action if repeated long enough becomes a habit, and eventually an addiction. Practice righteous living and you will soon find its addictive quality, over time you will discover a newfound bondage to holiness.

We used to practice ungodliness and over time became experts in that field, through repetition we were masters at rebellious behavior. But Christ’s power causes us to become slaves to righteousness. When we lived lawlessly we were dead in regards to righteousness, but now as new creations we live righteously and are dead in regards to sin. As we practice this new lifestyle it will take deeper root within us and we will then increasingly manifest our true selves which is Christ in us.