ROMANS 6:6

“knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;”

When I was growing up, my dad had an old step-side Chevrolet pickup with three-on-the-tree. Do you know what that is? That’s a 3 speed manual transmission that you shift on the side of the steering column. I loved that old truck. I learned to drive in that truck. The only thing wrong with that truck was occasionally the second gear would hang up when we tried to shift from first to second. When that happened, the truck would be in neutral or in between gears which made it powerless.  We would have to coast to the side of the road, raise the hood and jiggle the shifter loose. Those were the good old days, lol.

Paul uses a word in today’s verse that gives that same picture. The phrase “done away with” is the Greek word katargéō, and it  means “to make completely inoperative or to put out of use.” (TDNT) Paul is telling us here that because we have been crucified with Christ sin no longer has power over us. Our old sinful body is essentially thrown into neutral. We are freed from the bonds of sin.

APPLICATION

This word is used 27 times in the New Testament, all but two by Paul. In Hebrews 2:14, the writer says that Christ through His death “might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Christ threw the devil into neutral regarding his power over us in regard to sin. Because of Christ’s victory over death, the devil is powerless to exercise his control over us. Hallelujah!

The other time this word is used other than by Paul is in Luke 13:7 when Jesus was telling the parable about the unproductive fig tree. He said, “‘Why does it even use up the ground?’” The tree was making the soil unproductive or powerless. I want us to zero in on this thought. We have been given the promise of power over sin, but just like I did when I jumped out of my dad’s truck to throw that truck back into gear, we have the choice to throw sin back into our lives, giving it power over us. This robs the good soil from producing fruit in our lives.

I’ve known many people who came to Christ and gained victory over sin and then turned back to it. Drug addicts have a tendency to do that. They get clean, get saved and then make the terrible choice to sin again. Those drugs have no power over them unless they choose to give it. You need to choose today what you will do when you face that temptation. Will you throw sin back into gear and give it power over you or will you refuse to yield to it, making it powerless? The choice is yours. Choose wisely.

Lord God, I only want Your power in my life, not the ugly power of sin.

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