March 31

“We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?” Romans 6:2

Let us be careful not to separate into two the death of the Lord Jesus as our substitute and our death with him. Those who find pleasure in intellectual distinctions are apt to confuse us by doing so, but in spiritual life these two are one. His substitutionary death for our sins and our death with him to sin and self should be distinguished but never separated. Paul clearly affirms here in Romans that those who believe in the death of the Lord Jesus as their Savior have already died to sin.

The penalty for my sin is death. The Lord Jesus suffered this death for me; therefore, I have died in him. There can be no salvation otherwise. To say that he died for me is to say that I have already suffered sin’s penalty and died in him. Everyone who lays hold of this reality will experience its power of deliverance from sin and self in his daily living.