“¹¹ Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. ¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Romans 6:11-12

As I have stated before, the term sin in Romans chapter 6 is a noun.  In the Greek it has the definite article “the” before the word sin.  Here is a link to Strong’s Greek Linear if you are interested, Romans 6 Strong’s Greek Linear . It is the word number 3588.  As we see in Romans 6:12, we should not obey “it” in the lusts thereof.

“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do….” John 8:44.  Before we are born again, we are unable to yield ourselves unto God.  God has given us a free will that He will not overrule, but satan does not offer the same courtesies.  Even as an unbeliever, it is the grace of God that keeps satan from destroying them, all in hopes they will choose Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and accept the life He came to freely give them.  However, until they do freely choose to accept Jesus, the unbeliever is spiritually dead to God.

When the Holy Spirit begins to press on our heart and the Light of God’s presence exposes the depravity of our flesh and we cry out on the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord comes and takes the debt and power of sin away by force.  Jesus Christ snatches us from satan’s grip and suddenly all things become new and we are a new creature in Christ Jesus.  Jesus Christ paid our wages of sin and gave us victory over that seed of sin in us on Calvary’s Cross.

However, that seed of sin given to each and every individual since the fall of Adam is not removed but cut off upon our Salvation by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  We are now, through the power of the Holy Spirit, cut off from the root of the sin and enabled to yield to God.  Before our Salvation, we were slaves to the sin and could not help but obey it’s lusts.  For us to believe we could overcome the lusts of our sin , there would have been no reason for Jesus’ finished work on the Cross.  If our depraved flesh could have victory over the seed of sin, the Cross of Christ was in vain.

With our faith based solely and completely on Jesus’ victory over death and sin, the Holy Spirit continues to isolate that seed of sin.  The monarch remains dethroned.  “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:21.   As soon as we begin to fight the sin in our own efforts and will, we have engaged it and not the Lord for our deliverance.  The only fight the Believer is commissioned to fight is the good fight of faith, not the sin, not the demons behind the sin that have already been defeated, but the fight of faith being solely on Jesus Christ’s victory over sin and look to Him for deliverance.

I understand that some Believer’s have victory and am thankful to God.  Many times we see people who proclaim to be a Christian but are no more born again than the devil himself.  We all know the ones, they can be found in the barstools at happy hour and the pew for motivational hour.  I’m not speaking of the people who are looking to soothe their conscience but the ones who are seeking deliverance from their bondage.  The ones who are a born again Christian, who love Jesus Christ with all of their heart but cannot maintain victory over the sin.  The sin has dominion over them rather than them having dominion over the sin.  They hate their own sin as much as they do other’s sin.  Instead of judging these who are trying to maintain victory through the methods of man, why not tell them from where their deliverance came, through Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross and in the meantime, seek deliverance from the dominion of your own sin which  manifests itself in religion, spiritual pride and self righteousness.  – Donna Clark Warren