again, the old man inside you, the one that had been held captive by
the devil and made a slave to sin, has died. The power of sin over you
has been broken forever!
“[Your] old man is crucified with [Christ],” Romans 6:6 says, “that
the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth [you] should not
serve sin” (KJV). And not only are you free from sin, but if you'll
walk in the righteousness Jesus has given you, you'll rule over it.
In the kingdom of God, righteousness is the scepter (see Heb.
1:8). It's what gives you authority. It is imputed to you the moment
you're born again, and it makes you victorious over the world, the
flesh, the devil and every enemy that comes against you.
That's why the devil will do anything to get you to lay
righteousness down. He'll do anything to convince you that you're still
under the bondage of sin.
He'll tell you that it's just not normal for a human being to
live above sin. “Oh, everybody sins,” he'll whisper. “After all, you're
only human.”
No, you're not! You're a reborn child of almighty God. You have
God Himself inside you. Even though it's normal for natural men to sin,
it's not normal for you.
I'll tell you why the devil tries so hard to convince you that
you're still subject to sin. It's the only way he can keep you under
his control.
He's not afraid of people (even believers) who are living in
sin. But he shudders when a man or woman starts living day by day in
obedient union with the Lord. When that kind of person speaks to the
devil, he runs (see James 4:7).
Freedom from sin is the whole basis of the great salvation God
has given us. “Salvation” is a very big word. It includes much more
than going to heaven and missing hell. What it actually means is
“health, wholeness, deliverance, well-being, safety and soundness.”
But without freedom from sin, we wouldn't have any of those
things. Sickness, poverty, death—all the curses of sin—would still be
in force. It's only because God has broken the power of sin over us
that we can walk free.
If you're shaking your head thinking: I don't feel very free.
It seems as if the devil still has his hooks in me and I don't know how
to get loose, listen to me. You are loose.
The Word says: “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 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” (Rom. 6:8-11,
NKJV).
When this Scripture comes alive in you, you can lay down any
sin and never go back to it again. Let the truth of it sink into your
heart. Sin has lost its grip on you. It can't come back unless you
decide to let it come back.
Look at what Ephesians 2:5 says about you: “Even when we were
dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive
together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very
life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him]”
(The Amplified Bible).
You've already experienced the greatest resurrection of all.
You experienced it the day you were born again. That's when you passed
from death to life. That's when sin and death lost their hold over
you—the day the old man died and the new man came to life.
So if you've been living beneath your privileges, it's time to
pick up your scepter of righteousness and shake it in the devil's face.
It's time to kick sin out of your life and start living free.
Gloria Copeland is co-founder and vice president of
Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Fort Worth, TX. She and her husband,
Kenneth, are known for their teachings on faith, healing and victorious
Christian living.
