What Will It Take For You To Finally Be Free Of Sin's Power?

Photo by seanmcgrath

A few months back, I wrote a blog post on Turning off Sin’s Power. This week on Facebook, my former pastor posted the following:

Pop Quiz: What will have to happen in order for you to finally be free from the power of sin?

On Sunday, I read the following in a book I happen to pick up:

Did you ever stop to think about it: Salvation belongs to the sinner. Jesus already bought the salvation of the worst sinner, just as He did for us. That’s the reason He told us to go tell the Good News; go tell sinners they’re reconciled to God.

It goes on to say that if the sinner doesn’t know this, it won’t do him any good. It makes sense – salvation is a free gift that I receive by believing. If I either don’t know or don’t believe, it’s of no avail.

The salvation the author is talking about here is freedom from the penalty of sin. That’s for the sinner. But freedom from the power of sin... that’s for the believer. Romans 6:6-7 says:

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

If I received freedom from the penalty of my sin by believing verses like Colossians 2:13-14 and Romans 10:9, then it stands to reason that I won’t really receive freedom from the power of sin unless I believe verses like Romans 6:6-7 as well. As Romans 6:11says, “...consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

So it turns out that getting free from sin’s power also requires belief, or faith. You have to believe what the Word says. Go figure.