“For one who has died has been set free from sin.” -Romans 6:7
Death, it has been said, is the great equalizer of men. Death puts everyone it touches out of commission. It takes from him all his accomplishments and all of his future. For the man in prison, death frees him from his cell. For the one enslaved, death delivers him from his bondage. Death puts an end to all the actions of life.
Therefore, argues Paul, the one who has died in Christ has been set free from sin. In other words, we who have died to sin should no longer exercise ourselves in it. Being dead to it, we must cease from all the actions in which sin operated during its existence in our lives.
Yet, a reasonable man may object, we have yet to see such a person who as wholly crucified sin in the flesh, even amongst those who identify as Christians. Paul will answer this objection more fully as he fleshes out his argument; but we must, on one hand, acknowledge this circumstance to be real in our union with Christ, while also recognizing that while we still live in our old bodies, we must daily mortify the sin which raises itself in us. In this sense, we realize our ransomed condition in degrees, gradually, and day by day, more and more as we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit who is accomplishing this great work in us.