Q4. Disempowering the Old Nature, the Flesh

[Patricia A]

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we die with Him. This death with Him is death to our old nature and to sin; thus we are not slave to sin any longer and by God's grace we are free. If we do fall back into sin, we only need to ask for God's forgiveness and through His conditional grace, we are again no longer slave to sin. Praise God for this gift too wonderful for words. We can live and joy and praise His Name.

[Joeraja]

Q4. (Romans 6:6-7) In what way has our "body of sin," our "flesh," our old nature been made powerless because of our crucifixion with Christ? In what way have we been freed from slavery? What difference does this understanding make in our struggles against temptation?

Since Adam's sin we have all fallen short. The wages of sin is death. This sin had separated us from God and allowed the Devil to have dominance over us. But the death of Jesus on the cross redeemed us of our sins. As a result our flesh has been made powerless as Christ's Spirit gives us dominance over sin. This means that we have the strength to face and overcome temptation and the Holy Spirit will empower us,protect us and we will be able to lead holy lives.

[awylie1949@yahoo.co.uk]

Death cannot hold us. Death could not hold Jesus. If we are with Him then we are in Him and He in us. Jesus rose victoriious over death and the grave and so can we . We have to abide in Him.. We can claim the power to resist temptation in the Word and by asking Him to help and comfort and strengthen us. Best not to put ourselves into harms way though

[Debbe]

We are "dead" to sin and "alive" in Christ. We want to do what is right and good because of Christ's love for us.

[lighthouse2014]

Q4. (Romans 6:6-7) In what way has our "body of sin," our "flesh," our old nature been made powerless because of our crucifixion with Christ? In what way have we been freed from slavery? What difference does this understanding make in our struggles against temptation?

Because we have been crucified with Christ, we share in His crucifixion, we are united with Him and our old self, the flesh, the sinful nature has lost it's power, we are no longer dominated by it's desires.

We were once slaves to the sinful nature, but we are now released from it's power and we identified with Christ and His victory over death. In our struggle over the sinful nature we rely on the Christ and the Holy Spirit to overcome our temptation to sin because we have become and united with Him and live life with Him.      

[WinstonY]

Q4. (Romans 6:6-7) In what way has our "body of sin," our "flesh," our old nature been made powerless because of our crucifixion with Christ

 

Paul here in these verses is talking about the mystery of God-the mysteries of our union in Christ.This union leads us to a union with Christ when he was crucified. In some fashion this crucification which happened at a particular point in time-must also be happening at the present so that we can experience the crucification  of our sins. This union with Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit strengthens us to stand forth from the sins. we were justified by Christ and are now in the process of sanctification by and with the Holy Spirit -in union with Christ we are given the tools to stand forth from sin.

 

We been freed from slavery by being united in Christ. Paul writes in Galatians 3.28 "There is now (united in Christ) no longer Jew or Greek , there is no longer slave or free or there is no longer male or female, for all of you are one in Christ. 

 

What difference does this understanding make in our struggles against temptation?  We know that we have all the force of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to aid us in our struggles. We need to put on the 'whole armour of God'.

[Uncle Dave]

Q4. (Romans 6:6-7) In what way has our "body of sin," our "flesh," our old nature been made powerless because of our crucifixion with Christ? In what way have we been freed from slavery? What difference does this understanding make in our struggles against temptation? http://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=803

 

The impulse to sin, although still there via temptation has been broken. Triggers that used to set the sinful nature in gear have been neutralized. We have been freed from slavery because before we knew Christ we were slaves to the sinful nature. The difference? We now know sin for what it is which along with the strength Christ gives us we have a whole new arsenal in our defense against temptation. We have died to sin rather than because of it.

[Victor Adekunle]

On 8/16/2008 at 1:11 AM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q4. (Romans 6:6-7) In what way has our "body of sin," our "flesh," our old nature been made powerless because of our crucifixion with Christ? In what way have we been freed from slavery? What difference does this understanding make in our struggles against temptation?

Through our union with Christ, the price of the spiritual consequence of our Adamic nature has been paid. Christ's crucifixion involved putting the flesh to death and this is symbolic of the invalidation of the power of the sinful nature over us - the flesh has been put to death.

The power of the sinful nature made us slaves to its demands : the **** of the flesh, the **** of the eyes and the pride of life. The death of the flesh freed us from this slavery. 

In our struggle against temptation, we are no longer to feel powerless and think resisting is futile. If we remember that the flesh no longer has control of our wills, we can make a stand. "Resist the devil and He will flee from you" James 4:7b. 

[Lottie]

Our flesh or old nature was crucified when Jesus was crucified on the cross. It no longer has power over us anymore. It has been weakened since we are united with Christ now,

We are freed from the domination and power of sin over us. We are not under sin anymore but under Christ. 

This means that now we no longer have to obey our sin nature. We are freed and we have His power working in  us now.

[Godswriter]

Q4. (Romans 6:6-7) In what way has our "body of sin," our "flesh," our old nature been made powerless because of our crucifixion with Christ? In what way have we been freed from slavery? What difference does this understanding make in our struggles against temptation?

Our old nature has been made powerless through the crucifixion with Christ when we fully die to sin and also choose to let Christ live in us through the Holy Spirit and listen to His voice continually. We have been freed from it through the crucifixion, death and resurrection of our Lord since He broke the hold it had on us. It causes us to realize that we can cry out to the Lord for help when tempted to sin.

[AmyF]

Q4. (Romans 6:6-7) In what way has our "body of sin," our "flesh," our old nature been made powerless because of our crucifixion with Christ? In what way have we been freed from slavery? What difference does this understanding make in our struggles against temptation?

By grace and through faith in Christ we enter into the work of the cross. God views Christ’s crucifixion as having been our own death. There’s a phrase used by incarcerated persons when they have fully served out their sentence…they say, ”I’ve killed my number”. Through my identification with Christ’s death, He has “killed my number” and the benefits are accounted to me. One of those benefits is that the sin nature which ruled in my heart has been dethroned. There’s been a coup and Christ now reigns supreme. Sin is still present, but not the President. I’ve been freed from the slavery of my old nature because Jesus has “cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against me, which was hostile to me; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” ~ Col. 2:14. Being born again I can now be led by the Spirit and not my flesh and it’s lusts. A freed person lives very differently than an incarcerated person. 
Understanding my new position in Christ makes a difference in my personal struggle against temptation. Not only do I have a new heart that desires to love God, I’ve been given power, through the indwelling Spirit, to fight sin. I have armor and equipment I never had before. I also understand I’ve been bought with a tremendous price. The cost to Christ to rescue me from sin’s wages and stronghold helps me to live out a ransomed life. 

[Irmela]

Something that is dead is powerless. So if we are crucified wirh Christ, the sin that had bound us before has been crushed / crucified/has been rendered powerless. In this way we have then been set free from the power that sin had over us. The temptations have thus been weakened as we are no longer slaves to sin. 

[Krissi]

My problem with these passages is that I still sin. The fact that I sin, in spite of possessing a new, regenerated nature, has to be explained. Obviously my old self is not powerless -- it's pulling me toward sin. I will say that the nature of my sins has become more subtle and difficult to discern, but, well, I still sin.

Some posters above say that Christ in me gives me the power to not sin, that I'm sinning out of choice. But, honestly, I don't want to sin. It's not as if I am choosing to sin. Paul in Romans says "...for what I want to do I do not do, and what I hate I do." 

So, how do I understand these verses? Like so much in the bible, I see it as an incomplete promise, that though NOW I struggle with sin and have the indwelling Spirit to help me battle my own sinful tendencies, LATER (after death) those sinful tendencies will be erased because of Christ's death on the cross.