REVISITING THE BELIEVER'S POSITIONAL RICHES IN CHRIST

Part VI: Applying The Truth That Believers Are Vitally Conjoined To Christ For The Judgment Of The Old Sin Nature 'Unto A New Walk'

I. Introduction

A. When we trust in Christ as Savior, God pronounced us righteous regardless of our past sins, Romans 3:26.

B. However, we believers still sin sometimes since we still have sin natures, 1 John 1:8, 10.

C. Conversely, John writes that we are not supposed to commit sins now that we are saved, 1 John 2:1a.

D. If we then sin, but God expects us not to do so, we may ask how we can live a godly Christian life in the presence of our sin natures but not sin? This question is answered by considering Romans 6:1-10 (and see also Lewis Sperry Chafer's Systematic Theology, vol. III, "Soteriology," p. 239-240) as follows:

II. Applying The Truth That Believers Are Vitally Conjoined To Christ For The Judgment Of The Old Sin Nature 'Unto A New Walk.'

A. Critics of the Apostle Paul's teaching on justification by faith apart from works charged that he implied a believer should commit acts of sin so that God's grace to forgive him might abound, Romans 6:1-2a; Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 461.

B. In response, Paul taught that the believer's positional union with Christ in His death and its judgment of the sin nature and the believer's positional union with Christ in His death and resurrection make it logically and morally unacceptable for believers to live in sin in the Christian life, Romans 6:2b-6 (as follows):

1. Paul noted that the believer is "dead to sin" in Christ, making it improper for him to sin, Romans 6:2b.

2. To clarify what "dead to sin" means, Paul added that when the believer was spiritually baptized into Christ by the Holy Spirit at justification (1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13), he was positionally cocrucified, coburied and coresurrected with Christ as GOD views him, Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:12. [Dr. Chafer explained "that the death of Christ is so definitely an act in behalf of the believer, that it is a cocrucifixion, a codeath, a coburial and a coresurrection . . ." (Ibid., Chafer, p. 240)]

3. Thus, as Christ was raised in newness of the resurrection body and unto a new resurrection life, the believer is to view himself as coresurrected with Christ similarly to live in newness of life, Romans 6:4b-5.

4. Such newness of life demands that the believer who is coresurrected with Christ live without performing acts of sin, for one of the things to which Christ died and which no longer fits His new life was death to the sin nature by way of Christ's substitutionary death for sin, Romans 6:6a with 2 Corinthians 5:21.

5. Accordingly, if Christ died to the sin nature that the body of sin might be destroyed (at the rapture or the believer's physical death, cf. 1 Corinthians 15:56-58), and then was raised in a new kind of life now that the sacrifice for sin was completed, it follows that the believer is not to serve the sin nature any more so as to commit acts of sin, but to live a righteous life as does the risen Christ, Romans 6:6b.

C. In practice, some believers may think that due to their very dysfunctional backgrounds, it might be impossible for them not to sin, but this belief is countered by the testimony of Scripture (as follows):

1. First, the Holy Spirit upon Whom the believer is to rely to live apart from his sin nature's influence (Galatians 5:16) is Himself Almighty God according to Acts 5:3-4, and God is greater than the sin nature!

2. Second, the testimony of Paul reveals that even a terrible pre-Christian past can be overcome by God:

a. Paul was once so opposed to Christianity, he tried to destroy it, Acts 9:1-2 with 1 Timothy 1:12-13a.

b. When he was thus first saved, it took reputable Barnabas to convince the Apostles who led the Church that Paul's conversion was real before the Church let him join them, Acts 9:26-28 with Acts 4:36-37.

c. In the end, by the Holy Spirit's power, Paul wrote approximately half of the New Testament's books!

Lesson: (1) Since Christ so COMPLETELY substitutionally died with and for every believer and his sin and sin nature, and since each believer is so coburied and coresurrected with Him unto newness of life, when one believes in Christ, he is EQUIPPED by GOD through GOD the Holy Spirit's enabling power (Galatians 5:16-23) to live without having to commit acts of sin regardless of his background or depths of habitual sins of his past. (2) He is thus RESPONSIBLE before the Lord to live a righteous life in newness of life!

Application: (1) May we reckon ourselves to be so dead, buried and risen with Christ and equipped by the Holy Spirit of God to live righteous lives that we LIVE RIGHTEOUSLY in GOD'S POWER regardless of our sinful pasts! (2) May we thus view all alleged "psychological" problems that are not caused by physical problems as being rooted in SIN, problems that are then SOLVEABLE by a personal reliance on the Holy Spirit!