"Dead" never means annihilated, its "separation." Rom 11.6 says we are to count on the fact that we are 'dead' to sin, and in the same sentence, "alive to God." What does that mean? Do you believe both statements? The essence of the Christian life is revealed here! I have discovered that most of us have very little insight into this bedrock of our relationship to God.
It means that in Christ, we have ended our relationship with sin and death, sin is no longer our nature, even though sin still lives in us. Instead we are alive with the life of Christ. "Christ is our life." We have a new nature. The "real" you is dead to sin, and alive to God. That is way more than a doctrinal statement. It is fact. The reason you can count on it as absolute truth...is that God said so! It is God's word, and not our 'experience' that verifies it. We don't have to 'feel' it; just trust what God says, and go.
It might be helpful to think of an 18 wheel long-haul truck that needs 5 axles. Two of them we just discussed-1. dead to sin, -2. alive to God. For the other three, you might visualize 3. trust, 4. obedience, and 5. humility. We certainly need all five all the time in order to accomplish the work God has given us to do. I like to think of the front axle as obedience, and the load bearing axles as dead to sin, alive to God, trust and humility. If one is missing or not functioning (or has flat tires), its going to be tough sledding.
There is an excellent review in Ruth Myers book 31 DAYS OF PRAISE, [Multnomah 1994) page 128 to 138. And you might want to air up the tires on the 'humility axle' by (re)reading Andrew Murray's book HUMILITY . [Pocket Companion,, Christian Literature Crusade, 1991 Do it this week!
bh January 19, 2008
Web: www.bertsgoodstuff.com
Bonus: Recommend-- Hal Lindsay's message this week. http://hallindsey.org/ (Jan 11)