Another vital part of the new identity God has given us is our freedom from sin -- our lives are no longer controlled by sin's power.

WHY IS UNDERSTANDING THIS TRUTH IMPORTANT?

Even though we are a new creation, our "old life" can still impact our new life. This influence is typically exhibited in two ways:

Guilt and defeat: feeling that a specific sin has control of us...that we can’t help doing it and/or feeling tremendous guilt from past or present sins.

Believing we are "free TO sin", rather than free FROM sin: sinning willingly and without regret because “Hey, God will forgive me” and/or trying to get as close to sin as possible without “sinning”.

Sin just brings problems. That's why Christ set us from from them. So when we don't believe and live out our freedom FROM sin, we will face many difficulties in our life and walk with God.

THE TRUTH: WE ARE FREE FROM SIN

When we are saved, we are now free from the power of sin – we have died to sin and are alive in Christ. We need to understand this truth because there are some sins that we may feel have us trapped. Sometimes there are things we do that we know are wrong, but we don’t feel like we can keep from doing them, and instead of us being able to say ‘no’ to sin, sin is in control. When this happens, we need to remember that we are free from sin and that Christ has already won the battle.

Paul discusses our freedom from sin over and over in his letters. Many of the people he wrote to interpreted the freedom we find in Christ as freedom to sin...Paul indicates that this is going back to the very thing Christ saved us from. Other people he wrote to simply didn’t understand where that they and their response to sin changed upon salvation.

Romans 6.1-2 – What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

Galatians 5.13 – You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature...

Romans 6.18 – You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Romans 8.2 – because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

2 Corinthians 5.17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Romans 8.9 – You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you…

Galatians 5.24 – Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

Because of what Christ did for us, we no longer have to be controlled by sin. Our lives should reflect the fact that we are free from sin. This doesn’t mean we won’t sin anymore, because even though we are free, we still mess up. Freedom from sin DOES mean that our lives are no longer controlled by sin and that we are actively resisting sin and getting it out of our life. We will never be perfect; but, with God’s help, we should be moving in that direction.

1 Corinthians 15.57 – But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no sin that is too big for God to handle!

NEXT: Our Identity: Dealing with Temptation

What are practical steps I can take to live out this truth?