Dead or Alive?

Have you ever read the scriptures in the Bible that talk about how we were crucified with Christ, how we died with Him, and how we’ve been resurrected with Him? (Romans 6:4; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3). You may have read them from a religious standpoint and thought, “That’s nice, praise the Lord,” but it didn’t really resonate with you, or mean to you what it should mean. Well, I spent some time studying those scriptures out, and I tell you, it just blew up in me—what it really means to “die” and be “alive” in Christ.

The Bible says we were born into sin and shaped in iniquity (Psalm 51:5). So, how do we cut off that sinful nature we inherited when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden? (Genesis 3:6-19). Check this out. If we were born into something, the only way out of it is through death. Since we came in by birth, we must go out by death. Death is the secret of emancipation. Emancipation is freedom or liberation from something.

  In order to do away with our sinful nature, we must do away with our life. What life? The life we were born with. Now, God didn't remove sin, He just removed the sinner. Romans chapter 6, verses 2,3 states, “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”

Notice it says dead to sin—past tense. We are not going to die to sin; we died to sin. So now God deals with us in Christ. Okay, a question for you: Did Christ die? Yes. So if you're in Christ—meaning you’re born again—did you die? Yes! You’re dead to sin and alive in Christ (Romans 6:11). What we couldn’t do for ourselves, God did for us. God put us in Christ. It’s a divine work. First Corinthians 1:30 (NIV) plainly states, “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus.”

Christ was crucified. Since we're in Him, so were we. Christ was resurrected; we're in Him, so we were also! Christ rose with all power in His hand; we're in Him, so we have all power in us! (Matthew 28:18-20). You can’t separate what Jesus did from you, because you're in Him.

You might say, “But wait, Christ went to heaven after He rose from the dead” (Acts 1:9, 10).” Yes, but He didn’t go to heaven without us, because we’re in Him! The Bible says God has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus! (Ephesians 2:6).

What God wants you to get a revelation of is this: stop trying to “die to yourself” and realize that you're already dead to sin and alive in Christ. “Yourself” has already been nailed to the cross. What will happen when you get this revelation? It will catapult your faith and confidence in the finished works of Christ to a whole new level. The question will no longer be, Can God do this? Your faith will say, God has already done it! You’ll realize that whatever you need to manifest in this natural world, whether it be healing, deliverance from some addiction, or financial provision, is already done because you’re in Christ! When your faith is in His finished works, you’ll begin to reach out and grab hold of everything you need.

Now, begin to wake up with this thought every day: that you’re dead to sin and alive in Christ. It’s time for you to start grabbing everything that's been made available to you. This world ought to start freaking out over you! They ought to be looking at you like, How in the world are you doing all this? And you’ll say, “Well, I reckon it’s already done! I'm just receiving what He’s already done.” Hallelujah!

“For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord”(Romans 6:10-11).