Sin Shall Not Have Dominion Over You
Our flesh and fleshly desires always have the desire to rule. But God’s Word, the bible, clearly says; “for sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6: 14).
God wants us to live, not under the law and rule of sin, but in the power of His resurrection life! God said to Cain; “Sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Genesis 4:7).
When Jesus came to Lazarus’ tomb, Lazarus had already been dead for four days. But Jesus said; “Lazarus come forth!” (John 11:43) and the dead Lazarus walked out of the tomb.
In the same way, God wants us to walk out of sin and the places of death in our lives, so that we too may walk in resurrection life!
Death Precedes Resurrection Life
Resurrection life comes to those, who through obedience, have learnt to ‘take up their cross daily,’ and to put to death their own desires. The Apostle Paul made this astounding claim: “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). By this, he was speaking of putting to death his own fleshly desire to rule.
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature; sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator”.
(Colossians 3: 5 – 10, NIV)
We first must put to death to our fleshly nature, before we can experience resurrection life!
Paul expressed, that in order to experience the power of the resurrection life, he first had to identify himself with Christ. Paul identified himself with first the death, and then the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“i have been crucified with Christ”.
(Galatians 2:20)
He considered his old flesh life to be dead and hidden in burial with Christ.
“For you died, your life is hidden with Christ in God”.
(Colossians 3:3)
If we truly identify our old flesh life as being dead to sin, we can no longer live according to the old pattern of the sinful life.
“How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”.
(Romans 6:2)
Because Paul identified his ‘old man’ or old fleshly life with the death of Christ, he was also able to identify himself with the resurrection of Christ, enabling him to live a new life.
“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin”.
(Romans 6: 5 & 6)
“That I may know him (Christ) and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead”.
(Philippians 3: 10 & 11)
Because of Paul’s identification with the resurrected life of Christ, it was no longer Paul who lived, but Christ.
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me”.
(Galatians 2:20)
Walk Free in the Spirit
God calls us to consider ourselves dead to sin but alive in Christ.
“For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, he lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
(Romans 6: 7 — 11)
Having considered our sin life as having been put to death, to fully remove its ability to rule, we must learn to walk in the spirit!
The death of Christ on the cross has already empowered us, setting us free from the law of sin and death. Walking in the spirit frees us from bondage to the law.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” .
(Romans 8: 1 & 2)
“I say then: walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law”.
(Galatians 5:16 – 18)
This life we walk in the Spirit, we walk by revelation of the power of Christ’s blood shed on our behalf.
Resurrection life is a supernatural event empowered by the Spirit of God!
God’s Spirit Dwells Within Us
God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, does not reside in a temple made by hands.
“Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? Says the Lord, or what is the place of My rest? Has My hand not made all these things?”.
(Acts 7: 49 & 50)
When we receive Christ we are born again and the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. Therefore every believer in Christ has the life of God’s Spirit dwelling within him.
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”.
(1 Corinthians 3:16)
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”.
(1 Corinthians 6:19)
It is this life of God’s Holy Spirit living within us, which releases the power of God, enabling us to live right lives before Him.
“Christ in you, the hope of glory”.
(Colossians 1:27)
The Key to Power is Through the Cross
It is through the supernatural power of God’s Spirit that we are able to walk out of the place of sin and death, into His resurrection life!
This is something far above and beyond our natural ability to perform or understand.
What we could not do for ourselves, Christ has already done on our behalf!
Coming to earth in the form of man, Christ lived a sinless life. He fulfilled every righteous requirement of the law on our behalf, freeing us from the power of the flesh and the law and releasing us to walk in the power of His Spirit.
“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”.
(Romans 8:3 & 4)
Christ died on the cross a perfect sacrifice, but God laid on Christ the sin of us all, that we might walk free in the righteousness of Christ.
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 .
Corinthians 5:21)
We walk free from sin through the power of the cross!
Therefore be Spiritually Minded
The key to walking in the Spirit is where we set our minds.
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, (set their minds on) the things of the Spirit”.
(Romans 8:5)
What we set our minds on feeds life or death to our spirit.
When we think on our old flesh life that has died, we bring death. When we think on our new spirit life that has been made alive in Christ, we bring life!
“For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace”.
(Romans 8:6)
The Apostle Paul knew that our thought life was of such importance that he spelt it out for us!
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things”.
(Philippians 4:8)
When we develop the habit of meditating on virtuous things, our spirit life is filled with life and resurrection follows!
Be Compelled by the Love of God
God wants us to be compelled by His love in how we think about ourselves and others.
“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus; that if one (Christ) died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 .
Corinthians 5:14 & 15)
Paul tells us to view all men, not according to what he has done in the flesh, but by the spirit life that dwells within him. This includes us!
“Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”.
(2 Corinthians 5:16 & 17)
God wants us to view ourselves as he does – as new creations in Christ.
- Old things have passed away!
- All things have become new!
That means every old way of living, every old mistake, every old offence has been taken away! Everything about our lives has been made new in every way!
We walk with our thoughts set on this new way of life!
The Message of Reconciliation
Through Christ, every believer in him, has been made an ambassador of Christ’s message to the world! That because of the precious blood of Christ shed at calvary on our behalf, we can be forgiven and reconciled to God, so that our past sin life is taken away. This then becomes the truth, that we walk in and live in daily!
Therefore, be reconciled to God!
We live our life, not in the strength of our own flesh, but by faith in the One who loved us and gave himself for us; by our faith in Christ, who has already completed this work on our behalf..
“The life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God; who loved me and gave Himself for me” .
(Galatians 2:20)
We no longer focus on what the flesh has done wrong; we focus on what Jesus did right!
Every believer in Christ has been given this ministry of reconciliation!
“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their tresspasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For he made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”.
(2 Corinthians 5:18 – 21)
Be Awakened by the Light of His Word
Anything that is exposed is made manifest by the light that exposes it.
“But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light”.
(Ephesians 5:13)
Whatever causes things to be made manifest is light. This light is the light of God!
“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all”.
(1 John 1:5)
When God shines His light on areas of our hearts, it is so that we will no longer be spiritually blinded or asleep in that area of our lives, but awakened by the light of His Word.
“Therefore He says: Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light” .
(Ephesians 5:14)
Therefore live in the light of His Word!
