Are You Dead or Alive or Both?

For an individual who may not yet be a believer in Jesus, this question may sound absurd.  However, for the Christian, it is anything but insignificant.  For one thing, it gets to the issue of our spiritual walk more succinctly than any other way.

Let me explain.  Paul the apostle made this amazing declaration in his letter to the Galatian church(es).  He said something which, on its face, sounds completely untenable at first blush.  It is both a contradiction and a statement of fact.  You say, how could it be both?  The answer is simple.  It aptly describes the Christian's actual nature.  In fact, it couldn't have been said any clearer, and notice that Paul was saying this about himself first of all.

Here it is,

I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

The question doesn't suggest a possiblity or an alternate reality, it states the simple truth for every person who claims to be a Christ follower.  If you are a Christian, the former you is DEAD.  Now, what is important is whether or not you are living in that reality, not whether or not it is true! 

Every morning I open my eyes to the sound of my alarm at 5:15, and I am confronted with a choice.  As I awake and become conscious, my mind immediately wants to go in the wrong direction.  You might ask, “If ‘I am crucified with Christ,’ why do I have such a daily struggle with sin and sinful thoughts?”

Simply put, as Christians we are operating with two natures, even though our old nature is actually dead.  Despite that fact, we can still operate in that old realm if we choose not to live in obedience to the indwelling Spirit of God.  Consequently,  I have to literally "take that thought captive" (2 Corinthians  10:5) and drag it back.  Then I have to just as consciously think about purposefully asking God to sanctify my day right then and there.  And with that, I'm up and running! 

Paul stated this in Romans 6:11:

“So you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions."

This word "consider" is actually a term used in the accounting business.  It means to demonstrate an actual statistical picture so an actual financial status can be realized.  It means to comprehend and act in accordance with the true financial reckoning of what is actually in the bank.

  Therefore, since I am crucified with Christ, all of my sin - yes, every single sin - has been crucified with Him!  I now am free, and I can live the way that God expects me to live because I now have the Spirit's power to do so.  But, in order to actually benefit I have to "consider” Christ's death to have included all of my sins once and for all, past tense!  My crucifiction and yours is just as finished and final as Christ's!

Let me also point out one other important thing from Galations 2:20.  Paul also gives us the secret here for how we are to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive in Christ.   He said,

"and the life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."

By acting in faith, you are able to demonstate that you have the on-board ability to live out the spiritual reality that you are both dead to sin and yet alive in Jesus Christ. 

Are you considering your old sins to have been crucified with Christ?  If so, demonstrate it by living out that reality by faith today.