DEAD TO SIN YET LIVING UNTO GOD.
By Elder William Covert
SIN enthroned in the heart proposes to be king, director, and overseer of the actions, not even caring to consult the will of its subjects. It is personified in the Scriptures, standing forth as the husband of the sinner. The person thus united is made a bond servant instead of a free companion, and is compelled to yield to the will of the wicked master. Rom. 7: 2, 5, 8: "The woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth." "When we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death." "Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence." Again it is written: "We know the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I know not; for not what I would, that do I practice; but what I hate, that I do." Verses 14, 15, Revised Version. So dreadful is the rule of this tyrant that the afflicted one cries out in anguish of soul, saying, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Verse 24. But, thanks be to God, sweet release will come to those who seek for deliverance from this wretched union! The apostle speaks of how relief is given, in verse 6. He says, "Now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were holden." Revised Version. Death coming to either party in the marriage relation releases both. In this case it seems that the apostle represents both parties to this union as dying, but the wife revives again and becomes united to another, the second husband being Christ. The Spirit of Christ in the heart puts the old man of sin to death. "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." Gal. 5: 24. "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." Rom. 6: 6. The death of this dominant power of evil and the believer's union with Christ are beautifully blended in the story of the cross as told by Paul in Col. 2: 10-12. He says:— Ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power; in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. In the above reference the body of sin is declared to be put off, or cut away, by the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart. The believer also by faith joining with Christ in his death, does also by faith join with him in his burial through the ordinance of baptism, thus signifying his complete separation from all past relations and his entire union with the Lord. Death having ensued, burial must take place. These ordeals discharge the dead from all past obligations and relations. That individual who renounces self and merges into Christ, may remain hid in him, and to the past be dead and buried. But the apostle carries the figure still further by representing the believer as risen from the dead in Christ. Having in death found his Saviour, he is raised to newness of life by coming in contact with Christ's life. Upon these propositions read the following: "So many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Rom. 6: 3, 4. So far as these figures are concerned, they represent the believer in Christ wholly dead to the body of sin, having all connection wholly severed; therefore he need serve sin no more, nor hear when it calls him. Says the apostle, "He that is dead is freed from sin." Verse 7. Verse 11 says, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." This is the privilege of the believer. He is called upon to make his reckoning. This admonition implies consecration. He must yield all to Christ, and receive all from him. All bands must be broken, that the captive may go free. The apostle exhorts, "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh." Rom. 13: 14. These admonitions of the Lord bring us face to face with the greatest question that man is ever called upon to settle. It is the question of his whole life. Will he give all, that in Christ alone he may have all? God gave that which was dearest to him. Jesus gave himself. What is man asked to give?—A corrupt nature, a sin-polluted heart, a state of bondage, a life of shame, a mind of sorrow, a condition of death. What is he to receive in exchange?—Exemption from bondage, freedom from sin, a mansion in heaven, a home in the new earth, with life everlasting. Those who do fully consecrate all, will be so filled with the love of God that the service required will be performed in love for God. They will not depend on what they do to bring them the blessings of heaven. But, instead, the heavenly blessings will so fill the soul that they will not inquire, "What shall I receive for doing this?" but, "How can I glorify my Saviour?" It is written of the death of Christ, and the life of the Christian, "He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." 2 Cor. 5: 15. Christ, having bought the sinner when he was condemned to die, and having paid all charges that were against him, rightly claims that the86one thus bought is not the property of himself. He belongs to the Purchaser. He should now live unto the Lord. Having died as the slave of his former owner, and having been raised from the dead by another, his life and his service all belong to the One who raised him into newness of life. So the apostle exhorts:— Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Rom. 6: 12, 13. This exhortation means that your will is surrendered to God, and no mental reserve made by which to serve self. Self is to stand back, or, more properly, to be abandoned, and Christ is to have the affections or place in the mind that self formerly occupied. Doing this, God will work in us to will and to do what is his good pleasure. When you have thus chosen the Lord and yielded all your members to him, you will be dead unto sin and alive unto God in Jesus Christ our Lord.