Once we have reckoned ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, then we can embrace our new identity in Christ and present ourselves to God, submitting to his good purpose for our lives: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness” (Romans 6:12–13 ESV).
You see, before we received Christ, sin held us captive. We couldn’t stop sinning. But that’s not true anymore, because Jesus rules at our center with the powers of resurrection.
But, even though sin can’t rule over you, it can still invade and harass parts of your heart. It works to enslave you, and it is always working for dominance.
Some people (even church planters) think they can harmlessly play around with sin. They think they can go along with sin and compromise in their lives and they won’t be affected.
That’s not how it works. Sin is a predator, and it is working for mastery in our lives. It reminds me of news stories with titles like, “Florida Man Mauled by Pet Cougar.” I’m always a sucker for these stories. And sure enough, as I read, the story is always eerily the same: Some guy had a pet cougar named Fluffy for years, and one day Fluffy snapped and ripped the man’s face off.
Everyone acts so surprised and says, “Oh, but Fluffy was always so gentle and sweet.” I’m sure there were times when he was gentle. But naming that cougar “Fluffy” isn’t going to change his nature as a violent predator. If you keep a pet cougar in your house, at some point it’s going to turn on you and eat you. That’s its nature.
To embrace our identity in Christ and the life he has for us, we first have to reckon ourselves dead to sin and believe it even when we don’t feel like it. We believe that we are redeemed, cherished, sanctified, holy saints for whom all the promises of God are “yes” in Christ Jesus.
And when sin comes back for us and says, “This is who you are. This is what you do. This is what you are good for,” we say, “No. I am not a slave anymore. I am a redeemed, beloved child of the King. I’m not under your jurisdiction of death anymore. I know who I am.”
When we declare that, we won’t feel captive to sin, and it will lose its power over us. That’s transformation. We will rest in the love of our Master, Jesus, who, when we find him, satisfies us, and when we fail him, forgives us.
This article on transformation originally appeared here, and is used by permission.
