In this episode of Living the Selah Life, Kim explores one of the most powerful truths found in Romans chapter 6: what it means to be dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ.

Many believers understand that they have been forgiven, yet still struggle with old habits, old thinking, and the feeling that sin has the final say. Romans 6 presents a different picture. Through Christ's death and resurrection, believers have been given a new identity and a new way of living.

Join Kim as she unpacks Paul's question about grace and sin, explains what it means to be united with Christ, and shares how understanding your identity in Him can change the way you see yourself and your relationship with sin. This episode is a reminder that freedom is not something believers are trying to earn. It is something Jesus has already secured.

If you have ever wondered how to walk in the victory Christ purchased for you, this conversation will encourage you to see yourself through the lens of what God has already accomplished and to live from the truth of who you are in Him.

The content shared on Living the Selah Life is for spiritual encouragement, personal reflection, and informational purposes only.

It is not intended to diagnose, treat or replace medical, psychological or professional advice of any kind.

Please consult a licensed healthcare provider or qualified professional for any physical, mental or emotional health concerns.

The views expressed are those of the host, Kimberly Lockanore, and are based on personal, personal experience and Biblical insight, not clinical or professional training.

Welcome back to Living the Selah Life, a podcast that invites you to slow down to breathe and reconnect with the presence of God.

I'm your host, Kim, and this space is for anyone longing to become more familiar with his presence.

Each episode is an intentional pause, a moment to reflect, realign and remember that God meets us when we create space for Him.

So take a breath.

You are right on time.

Let's live the Selah life together.

In our last episode, we celebrated the results of justification, peace with God, access to his presence, hope of glory, reconciliation, and reigning in life through abundance of grace we saw that where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.

Today we're moving into Romans chapter 6, where Paul addresses a very critical question.

If grace abounds more than sin, should we keep sinning so grace can keep increasing?

Paul's answer is a resounding no.

And the reason is just gorgeous.

You died to sin.

You're alive to God.

Sin no longer has dominion over you.

You're free.

That is the truth.

Whether it feels like reality or not, that is the truth.

This is about understanding who you are in Christ and living from that new identity.

So get ready to discover the freedom that comes from being dead to sin and alive in Christ.

That's exactly what we'll call this week's main teaching.

Dead to sin and alive in Christ.

Shall we continue in sin?

Romans 6:1 2 Paul anticipates an objection to his teaching on grace.

What shall we say then?

Shall we continue in sin?

That grace may abound?

Certainly not.

How shall we who die to sin live any longer in it?

If grace increases where sin abounds, why not just keep sinning?

More sin means more grace, right?

Paul's response is immediate and empathetic.

Certainly not.

The Greek word used here is even stronger, meaning may it never be.

This is unthinkable, absurd, completely contrary to the Gospel.

And why is that?

Because we die to sin.

You're no longer what you were.

Even if you feel like it and even if you look like it, you're no longer what you were.

Something fundamental changed when you trusted Christ.

You died to sin this does not mean you never sin.

It means your relationship to sin changed.

You're no longer sin's slave.

You're able to lay a thing down.

You're able to lay ideas down.

You're able to get rid of mindsets through Christ.

You're able to do it, whereas prior to Christ, we were unable to do it.

How can someone who died to sin keep living in it?

It seems like a contradiction.

It's like saying, I died to water, so I'm going to keep swimming.

Death ends your relationship with something.

I desire to see more people disciple people from this point of view rather than from the sinner point of view.

It's hard to become free from something when you are referred to as a sinner and constantly forced to look at all the sins in your life.

What we behold, we become.

And I am going to scream that from every mountaintop.

And it is because that is how the Lord got me out of a lot of religious mindsets that do not serve.

They keep you from walking in the fullness of your identity in Christ.

They keep you from even seeing it.

What we behold is what we become.

Behold him and he will help you walk away from your old nature and into your true identity that Christ paid for you.

Behold sin and what the enemy is doing all the time.

That is exactly what your world will revolve around.

Trust me, I did it so that you don't have to.

Christ paid for your true identity and he paid a very high price.

Might I add, baptized into Christ, Romans chapter 6, verses 3 through 5.

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death, Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death.

That just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection.

Come on, somebody.

Baptism illustrates what happened spiritually.

When you trusted Christ, you were baptized into Christ, united with him, placed into Him.

You were baptized into his death.

When Christ died, you died with Him.

His death counts as your death.

When he was buried, you were buried with Him.

But he didn't stay dead.

And I could stop right here and preach, preach, preach.

He did not stay dead.

Some of us are so asphyxiated on the cross, we miss all of the things in his resurrection.

He was raised from the dead by the Father's glory, and you were raised with Him.

You walk in newness of life.

This is identification with Christ.

What happened to him, happened to you.

His death is your death.

His resurrection is your resurrection.

You're united with him in both death and death.

Life, the old you died, the new you is alive.

You are a new creation.

You walk in newness of life.

A completely different way of living, powered by resurrection.

Life, the old self crucified.

Romans, chapter 6, verses 6 through 7.

Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

For he who has died has been freed from sin.

Your old man, your old self, your old identity.

Who you were in Adam.

Adam was crucified with Christ.

That person died, whether you believe that or think so or not.

And what's the purpose that the body of sin might be done away with?

The power of sin over you is broken.

The domination is ended.

And what's the result of that?

That we no longer be slaves of sin.

You are free.

Sin does not own you anymore.

For he who has died has been freed from sin.

Death breaks sin's claim.

Christ's death.

A dead person is free from sin's power.

Since you died with Christ, you're free from sin's power.

And this is a positional truth.

This is who you are in Christ.

Your old self died.

You're no longer sin slave.

You are free.

A positional truth where you position yourself alive to God.

Romans, chapter 6, verses 8 through 11.

Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.

Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.

Death no longer has dominion over over him.

For the death that he died, he died to sin once for all.

But the life that he lives, he lives to God.

Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You die with Christ, you also live with him.

Christ was raised and will never die again.

Death has zero power over him.

He died to sin once, for all, completely, finally, permanently, he lives to God.

His life is oriented to the Father, lived for God's glory.

Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Reckon means consider, count, calculate, recognizing the reality counted as true because it is true.

This is your identity in Christ.

Believe it, count on it, and live from it.

Don't let sin reign.

Romans, chapter 6, verses 12 through 14.

Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

For sin shall not have dominion over you.

For you are not under law, but under grace.

Because you die to sin and are alive in God.

Do not let sin reign in your immortal body.

Don't give sin control and don't let it dominate you.

Notice this as a command, not a statement of impossibility.

You can refuse sin's rule, even though sometimes it seems like you can.

You do have the power to say no through Christ.

Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin.

Your body parts, hands, eyes, mouth, feet, don't use them as tools for sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

Offer yourself to God and give him your hands, your eyes, your mouth, your feet, and all of the body parts.

Let them be tools for righteousness.

And this is a choice that you make.

Sin doesn't automatically rule you.

You decide what you present yourself to.

And this is where many struggle.

Because I. I've struggled there and still do.

But because sin does not have dominion over me, and I know that truth when it feels like it does in reality, I take it to the Lord.

Lord, I need your help.

That is all we have to do.

I need your help.

The truth is, I am a new creature in Christ Jesus.

What my reality is looking like is that this thing and this thing and this thing that I know, know is not amazing.

It is not budging.

And I need your help.

And every single time, not one time, not two times, every single time, when my desire is to put a thing off, he will give you the strategy to do so and the power.

By the way, Grace doesn't give us license to sin.

Grace gives us power not to sin.

We're free from sin's dominion because we're under grace.

Slaves of righteousness.

Romans, chapter 6, verses 15 through 18.

What then shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace?

Certainly not.

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey.

You are that one, slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness.

But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of right righteousness.

Paul repeats the question, does grace give license to sin?

Again, his answer is certainly Not.

And here's the truth.

You're always a slave to something.

You present yourself to something and can become a slave.

You're either a slave to sin leading to death, or a slave to obedience leading to righteousness.

You were slaves of sin, and that's past tense.

You believe the message you were delivered from that having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

You're no longer sin slave, you're righteousness slave.

This is joyful service to a good master.

You are free from sin's tyranny and free to serve righteousness.

The wages of sin versus the gift of God.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

What fruit did you have then?

In the things of which you are now ashamed.

For the end of those things is death.

But now, having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness and the end everlasting life.

For the wages of sin is death.

But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When you were sin slave, you were free from righteousness.

Righteousness had no claim on you.

And what did that freedom produce?

Things that we're now ashamed of.

And the end result?

Death.

Now you're free from sin and slaves of God.

And what does this produce?

Fruit leading to holiness.

And the end results of that everlasting life.

For the wages of sin is death.

But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sin pays wages.

What you earn, what you deserve.

Those wages are death, separation from God, spiritual death, eternal death.

God gives a gift, though what you don't earn, what you don't deserve.

And that gift is eternal life, relationship with him, spiritual life, everlasting life in Christ.

Understanding your new identity.

The key to Romans 6 is understanding who you are.

That you're not the person you used to be.

Even if it feels like it.

Something fundamental changed when you trusted Christ.

Your old self died.

And that person dominated by sin and enslaved to it, identified by it, is gone, dead, buried with Christ.

Your new self is alive.

You are a new creation.

You have a new life.

You're identified with Christ and not with sin.

Sin no longer defines you.

It no longer dominates you.

It no longer has legal claim on you.

You are free.

It's just about recognizing who you already are and living from that reality.

And this can be something that is extremely hard to grasp.

But I pray that you ask God to give you a revelation, because it will change so much about how you relate to God and how you relate to yourself and how you see yourself and what God will be able to do through you.

Just ask Him.

He'll give it to you.

And what is the power of grace?

Paul says, sin shall not have dominion over you because you're under grace, not the law.

And does this seem backwards?

Shouldn't being under law with his commands and consequences retrain sin better than grace?

Notice I said retrain.

No.

Law tells you what to do, but gives you no power to do it.

Law condemns failure, but provides no help to succeed.

And law arouses sin by highlighting what's forbidden.

Grace works very differently.

Grace changes your heart.

Grace gives you new desires.

Grace provides the Holy Spirit's power.

Grace makes holiness possible because it transforms from the inside out.

You're not under the law, trying to earn righteousness through perfect obedience.

You're under grace, receiving righteousness as a gift and living from it.

And this is why grace doesn't lead to license.

Grace leads to holiness.

Not forced external compliance, but genuine internal transformation.

Freedom.

In Christ.

You are free, not free to sin.

You were already doing that before Christ.

You're free from sin, from its domination, its power and its claim.

And this freedom is very real.

Sin does not automatically rule you anymore like it did before.

You have the power to say no and to refuse its reign.

You also have a new master called righteousness, God himself.

But this is not the slavery kind.

This is joyful service to a God who loves you, who gave himself free for you, who always works for your good.

Serving God is true freedom.

Serving sin is slavery that destroys in the end.

And you've been freed from destructive slavery and invited into liberating service.

We will move on into this week's Pause Prompts.

And remember, Pause Prompts is just where we take inventory of where we are so that we can know where we're going.

They are never meant to condemn, to bring any form of self condemnation just to take inventory.

Let's go.

Do you believe that you died to sin and are alive to God?

Or do you still see yourself as sin slave?

Are you trying to stop sinning through willpower alone?

Do you see grace as license to sin or power not to sin?

And where do you need to reckon yourself?

Dead to sin and alive in God?

Let's move on, my friends, to the Selah moment and pray prayer, my favorite part of the podcast.

This is our opportunity to embrace our new identity in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So position yourself to receive.

Sit comfortably and take several slow, deep breaths.

Now picture the Old you enslaved to s sin, dominated by it, defined by it.

That person died.

They're gone, buried with Christ.

Now picture the new you alive in Christ, free from sin's dominion, empowered by grace.

This is who you are.

Receive this identity.

Count it as true.

I die to sin.

I'm alive to God.

Sin doesn't have dominion over me.

I'm under grace.

I am free.

Picture yourself presenting your body to God, all of it offered to him as an instrument of righteousness.

You belong to him and that you serve him joyfully.

Let us pray.

Father, thank you that we died to sin.

Thank you that our old self was crucified with Christ, that our slavery to sin was broken, and that we're free.

Thank you that we're alive to God.

In Christ.

We have a new life.

We're new creations.

We walk in newness of life.

Help us to believe this, Lord.

Help us walk.

Reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God.

And help us to understand that this is not wishful thinking, but it is the truth.

This is who we are.

Forgive us for living like we're still sin slaves when you've set us free.

Forgive us for letting sin reign when it has no dominance over us.

Forgive us for forgetting our identity and living from the old self that died.

Help us understand that we are under grace, not the law, and that grace doesn't give us license to sin.

Grace gives us power not to sin.

Grace changes our hearts, plants new desires, provides your spirit's strength.

Teach us to present ourselves to you each day as instruments of righteousness.

Give us grace to refuse sin's reign when sin demands obedience.

Help us to remember that we died to it, that we're no longer its slave and we're free to say, no, thank you.

That sin shall not have dominion over us.

Not because we're strong enough to resist it, but because we're under grace.

And grace is more powerful than sin's pull.

Lord, help us live from our new identity.

We're not trying to become free.

We are free.

We're not trying to become alive.

We are are alive in Christ.

Help us live from this reality.

When we fail, help us remember failure does not change our identity.

We're still dead to sin, still alive to God, still free.

Our standing in Christ is secure.

Make us people who choose righteousness not out of fear or obligation, but from love and gratitude.

We present ourselves to you because you gave yourself for us.

Thank you for the gift of eternal life.

We're no longer earning death as wages for sin.

We're receiving life as a gift from you.

Help us walk in newness of life Every day old things have passed away, all things have become new and we are new creations in Christ Jesus.

It is in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord that we pray, with whom we died and with whom we live.

And it is so let's lean into our Selah moment.

That is it.

My friends.

Thank you for listening to living the Selah life.

If this moment stirred something in your spine, please share it with someone who needs to be reminded to pause and listen.

You can connect with me on Instagram, a Facebook group, not a Facebook page or YouTube @LivingTheSelah Life.

Or email me your story @LivingTheSelahLiferoton me.

I'd be happy to present it on the podcast.

Until next time.

Time Remember that God is speaking.

He wants to guide you and direct you and give you his wisdom for your life.

Create space to listen.

You are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Live from this truth.

May you go from this place, resting not just in body but in spirit, carrying the awareness that his presence is always near.

May you be rooted in the unshakable word of God, the Logos that ground you and the rhema that guides you.

For men does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

And may you keep rising into the life that he designed for you, into purpose, into peace, into the fullness of his calling.

May your life become a living Selah, an intentional pause that reveals his presence.

And it is so Selah.