Dying to sin

I have been steeping myself in the Book of Romans lately ~ partially thanks to my theology paper.

Romans 6 intrigued me yesterday evening.

I know I often take for granted "dying with Christ". However, yesterday these particular verses made me stop and think:

"For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection..." (v.5)

"Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him..." (v.8)

"For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts,
and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness;
but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, 
and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under Law, but grace..."
(v.10-14)

What does it mean to live out Christ's crucifixion in our daily lives as Christians? What does it mean to die with Him?

He died to sin. Dying with Him means dying to sin.

Dying to sin. We have a new master now, being under grace. Sin, the master of those under the Law (the law of sin and death), still often manages to be attractive to those who are under grace. Sin seduces, entices and invites as it used to. Why?

The Law magnifies sin's attractiveness. (Bad analogy this one... but if I told you, "DON'T turn around because there is a gorilla in a tuxedo, smoking a cigar," you would writhe in agony and curiosity. All you would want to do is to sneak a peep at the perplexing animal.) Children always attempt to do exactly what their parents have warned them against - even though they risk being punished. It's a thrill; sometimes, a form of rebellion that you can't help.

On the other hand, sinning while we are under grace brings a truckload of remorse. It is no wonder that the Bible says that it is God's kindness that leads one to repentance. We would stagger under the crushing weight of guilt, knowing that we have grieved someone whom we know to have given His all and best so that we could go scot-free. UNLESS you have issues with your head. Or if your heart is made of... ah, diamond (and if you are wondering, no, it's not supposed to be a good thing).

Or perhaps you don't care because you believe that grace gives you the license to do whatever you want ~ that's maybe because you don't care for a relationship with the savior. Salvation to you may be just a ticket to heaven. Period.

Anyway, I digress. That doesn't seem to really give us any answers pertaining to why sin is still so attractive to those under grace.  However, later in the Book of Romans, Paul makes this statement regarding the sinful nature in man:

"...For I joyfully concur with the law of God (as opposed to the law of sin) in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord..." (Romans 7:23-25)

Dying with Christ is as easy as dying to sin. With the sinful nature in the "members of our bodies", it is surely as easy as dismembering your body.

Is there hope?

I believe there is. God's Spirit is able to help us and work in us (Phil 2:13). But before that, we've got to choose - because that is something that we can still do on our side. Rather than trying to stop sinning by our own strength, we've got to choose to get busy loving, seeking and knowing God. When we are so pre-occupied with these, sin will slowly lose its grip on us because its importance diminishes. Furthermore, the Spirit does His transformative work so that we are no longer addicted to the sin. Choosing not to commit that sin becomes much easier.

Do you know of certain sins of the past that have been overcome this way? I do.