What Does it Mean: To be Dead to Sin?

The Bible has multiple verses which indicate we are to be dead to sin. Two of them are Rom 6:2 and Rom 6:11, which follow (with a little context):
Rom 6:1   What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2   God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

One of the greatest divisions within Christianity is in the understanding of what sin is. If you look up the greek word that was translated into English as, "sin", you'll find several similar meanings. (Go here for a thorough definition.)  Most people who've done ONLY this part come away with the idea that it means to err or miss the mark. Now that doesn't seem too hard to understand, does it? The trouble is that what you get from the dictionary is only a short explanation of the meaning behind the word in Greek as it existed when Christ took on flesh and preached among us. However, Christ didn't just leave the word as he found it. Rather, he (and his followers) added meaning to that original context.

When you read the Bible to see what it was that the Bible means with the word sin in the context of what Christ meant with it, you can look at James 4:17 since that verse tells what sin is. That verse says, "Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does [it] not, to him it is sin." Notice that it says, "to him" it is sin. Why? There's the idea of the importance of intentions. We see this importance also in Mat 5:28, where Jesus tells us, "But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart." The part where it says, "to lust after her" shows us that it is not the looking which is sin (adultery), but rather that the intentions are the problem.  If a man is in a crowd of people looking for his wife or daughter and sees a bunch of women who are neither his wife nor his daughter, he has not sinned because of having looked at a bunch of women...unless he has intended to lust after them. The importance of intentions are also evident in Luke 6:45 which states, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." So, when you read the Bible, keep in mind that the word "sin" was not used the same way in all places. Think about what was meant by it. Is a particular text speaking about any mistake you make, or only mistakes with wrong intentions?

My point here is that if your ultimate goal in life is to serve God rather than to serve self, then ultimately, your intentions will be right. Then, when you look at people, whether you are a man looking at women or a woman looking at men, your intention will be to be a servant of others rather than to be trying to get what isn't rightfully yours. If your ultimate goal is to serve God, then when you realize you've done something God didn't want you to do, you will fix your course and again serve God (that's repentance). If you believe in God, and are intent upon serving him, then he will forgive you for your past sins (if you ask). Then, he can also cleanse your conscience of your past misdeeds. From this perspective, God is not being unreasonable when he tells us to "be perfect even as the father in heaven is perfect," because he isn't telling us to never again make a mistake, rather he is telling us to follow after him and give up all wrong-doing in our lives. This is what is meant by being "dead to sin." Using only the meaning of, "to miss the mark, to err" it is completely impossible to ever "stop sinning," like Jesus commands us to do in numerous places (see John 5:14 and 8:11 for examples). If, though, Jesus only meant to live up to the truth that we know, every one of us can do that by simply asking Jesus to cleanse our consciences and give us right intentions. Then we can act out of those right motives and have confidence before God.

Now, you have a choice to make: Are you going to go through the rest of life simply saying, "No one is perfect," and therefore thinking that it doesn't make any difference how you actually live since you can't be perfect anyway? Or are you going to give up serving self and live your life to serve Christ thereby doing what is right?

Has this post been helpful to you? Am I being ridiculous? Have I neglected to take something into account and you can help me grow closer to Christ by correcting me? I'll be O.k. with your comments regardless of whether you like or hate my views. Let me know what you think. I value your feedback. Thanks and God bless.

Winning the War

He was coming at me...with a sword, and not just any sword, but a sharpened, two edged sword. And, he was fast. But, no matter, I thought, because I'd studied Aikido, a Japanese martial art. I'd trained against attacks with (and without) weapons. I'd also studied western style fencing, and wrestling. I was well trained and agile with excellent balance. Although I had no weapons other than my hands, I was not afraid. In fact, I was even enjoying myself, and was proud of it. No matter which way my attacker sliced or stabbed at me, I just got out of the way. I could dodge the best offense he could muster: not a problem. I felt like I could go on like this for ever.

The problem was that my opponent was Jesus. And, even though it was like a game, after a time, I DID gradually begin to wear out. I was getting tired and slowing down. My opponent, however, was not slowing down or tiring out. I realized that regardless of how well trained I was, regardless of how fit I was or could have been, regardless of how clever I might be, Jesus was stronger, smarter and had greater endurance. God does not wear out. He doesn't need to sleep. He doesn't even get tired. So, how did I win?

Sometimes, if you lose one battle, it can cause you to win a war. And, if it does, isn't it worth it?

Additionally, over time, I figured out that Jesus wasn't trying to kill me. Yes, he was attacking me with a sword, but he kept going for my arms. He was trying to cut them off not because it would damage me, but to replace them. He wanted me to be able to use his arms and hands. The Bible says that we are to be Jesus' hands and feet and he wanted me to have hands and arms that would never wear out, that would never grow tired. If I could just give up my pride and stop trying to be clever; if I could just give in to Jesus and stop trying to be in control, then I could stop fighting with him as my opponent and start fighting with him as my strength and my deliverer. By using His body parts, I could run and not grow weary, walk and not faint. By giving up and letting Jesus win the battle, by letting Jesus have his way with my arms, I could just change sides! By surrendering to Jesus, we win in the end. After surrendering, I no longer had to fight alone, and with God on my side, I might not always FEEL like I could go on fighting forever, but it would still be true. And, it would be more true, in fact, than if I just FELT like I could go on forever. As Christians, we win in the end.

Why This Matters to YOU!

Are you fighting with Jesus, or against him? We are all engaged in a war. Are you sure you're on the right side? I had the above dream about 13 years ago, and I'm still finding ways to give up more of my life to him. And every time I do, my life gets better. What is there in your life that Jesus is trying replace with something better? All these years later, I've just recently started getting to the point where I can tell people about this dream. I had to give up a lot of my pride and fears. I had to keep letting Jesus give me more of himself so that I could learn to trust him enough to really tell people about him in a powerful way. What about you? What's your story? I'd like to hear it. Please leave a comment...whether you love or hate this post in terms of style or content, if you have questions or a link to your own blog with more details, it is all welcome. And, aside from how this post about my dream might affect you, is there someone else you could talk to about something supernatural in your life that might help them? I expect I'll post again on related topics, because they are important. Until then, keep thinking about these kinds of questions. Find ways to let Jesus win in your life. You'll be glad you did. Thanks.