Not long ago my friend patiently listened to me rave about Jesus. I bragged about how amazing He is, what He accomplished on the cross and what that means for those who place their faith in Him – believing in what He did. I explained that it’s complicated, but it’s an already and not yet in Jesus. Sin is already defeated. This defeat occurred the moment Jesus was crucified and then raised from the grave. So, our individual sins are already blotted out. As a result believers will be resurrected from the grave just as Jesus was raised. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. 1 Corinthians 15:20.
I went on to encourage her in her faith hoping that the spark she once had for Jesus in her childhood would be reignited. She listened intently, and at the end of my talk, she asked “well what am I supposed to do with all my sins?”
I explained that Jesus has already done away with her sins. All she can do as a finite human is trust in what He did on the cross. Contrary to self-help and works-based false gospel teachings, humans are utterly helpless to do anything about their own sin. All we can do is accept Jesus, receive God’s grace and move on without condemnation from the enemy. This was the best answer I could give considering that I had not quite learned my way around His word – which I’m still learning. She reluctantly accepted what I said without “evidence”. But as a colleague in law, I knew she wanted something more substantive.
I later read 1 John 1:9 and studied Romans 6:1-14 and thought to myself: “Yep! God told us exactly what to do with sin!” I’d wished that I had this “sword” handy during our conversation since this text lays out a perfect answer. 1 John 1:9 speaks of what do do, and I’d say that Romans 6:1-14 gives us the details of process – how we can even do what 1 John 1:9 instructs. Understanding the how – the process – is really helpful for inquisitive people like me. Romans 6:1-14 certainly entails a promise that believers should take hold of, believe, store and put to use in the day of evil which is the spiritual battle Paul warns us of about in Ephesians 6. This includes days when the devil tries hard to make believers feel uncertain or doubtful about what to do with sin – like he did with my friend. The devil is not the boss of any Jesus believer.
The whole passage reads – (applies to habitual and continuous sin):
“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”
Now I know there is a lot of gold to mine here, but even without conducting a full analysis – it’s safe to say that this is great news for believers! Ultimately verse 14 is where we want to land – where we learn that sin does not have dominion over believers because it has no power over Jesus. This is what I said to my friend… in less eloquent words. But let’s do the math, which I admittedly didn’t appreciate before now.
First off, believers are identified with Christ. When they accepted Jesus, they were fully immersed in His death, burial and resurrection (verses 3-5). This seems weird, but the believers death, burial and resurrection occurred in the spiritual realm at that moment. The physical reality of that will come in the future when the saints are resurrected at the appointed time. This is a complete transformation that is real even though a believer cannot not see it or may not “feel it.”
Upon transformation, believers are moved from the governing authority of sin/rule of evil to the rule of God (verses 6-11, 14). This reality happens radically for some people and it sets in, but for others, the change is gradual. The latter is true for most people – that Romans 6:1-16 has not been driven into the soul all at once. I will share that for me, the shift from the rule of evil to the rule of God was drastic. The Holy Spirit came in and immediately cut off the power of cruel, oppressive, stubborn and besetting sin in my life. It’s remarkable to think about. I THANK GOD nearly every day for saving me. And I should thank Him more often! Note: I’m in no way claiming to be sinless; but by the grace of God, I’m longer overrun by habitual sin – like without self-control. This is true as far as I know, and I’ll stick with this claim until God reveals otherwise. 1 John 1:10.
Because all of this is true, believers must reckon with it (verse 11). This means to consider, regard or account the old unregenerate self as dead and believe that the governing power of sin no longer rules. The old man is dead, and the new man lives. Therefore, don’t have to follow the commands of sin or sinful impulses. We should instead offer ourselves up to God every single day to be used for righteousness (verses 12-13). Trust that I know this easier said than done. But this text is nonetheless enlightening and encouraging. It may not be easy to shun the nagging and tempting power of sin, but, with God, all things are possible. Matthew 9:26.
We shouldn’t forget that we live in a sinful fallen world. So even though Jesus dealt with sin on the cross, the sinful nature will always try to rear its ugly head in believers whenever and wherever it can. A hard truth is that the world is Satan’s kingdom/domain/territory until Jesus comes and destroys evil and death once and for all. This is why Paul admonishes us to not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:27.
So, what should my friend or anyone do with sins? My answer will always be bring them to Jesus.