Dead to Sin, Alive to God

"What shall we say, then? Shall we keep on sinning so that grace may increase?" Paul anticipates the objection. If God's grace grows greater wherever sin abounds, why not sin more freely? The answer is immediate and visceral: "By no means!" How can those who died to sin still live in it? Paul grounds his argument not in moral effort but in baptismal reality. When we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were baptized into his death. We were buried with him through baptism into death so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the Father's glory, we too might walk in newness of life. The language is participatory, not merely symbolic. Our old self was crucified with Christ so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. This is not aspiration—it is declaration. Anyone who has died has been set free from sin's claim. The logic unfolds carefully. If we died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him. Death no longer has mastery over Christ; he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. Therefore—and here Paul moves from indicative to imperative—count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. The counting is not wishful thinking. It rests on the accomplished fact of union with Christ. Because you died with him, because you were raised with him, you now reckon it true in daily experience. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness; rather, offer yourselves to God as those brought from death to life, and offer every part of yourself as an instrument of righteousness. Sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under law but under grace. This is no abstract theology. Consider thebesetting sin that whispers familiarity to you—impatience with your children, resentment toward a colleague, the scroll toward envy on social media, the secret compromise you've rationalized as necessary. Paul says: that sin no longer owns you. You belonged to it once, but you have died. Your baptism was your funeral. What claims can the old master make on a dead man? None. You have been raised to a new life where God is Lord, not sin. This morning, when temptation presents itself as inevitable, as "just who you are," remember: you are not who you were. You died. Speak to yourself the truth: "I am dead to this. I am alive to God in Christ Jesus." Then turn from the old obedience and offer your hands, your words, your attention as instruments of righteousness. Father, I thank you that my union with Christ is more real than my ongoing struggle with sin. Help me today to count myself dead to what once mastered me and alive to you. In Jesus' name, amen.