Why You Need to Die

People spend their whole lives searching for ways to have purpose, meaning, and fulfillment. They seek this purpose and meaning in wealth, power, glory, legacy, family, health, etc. all in vain.

They seek but never find. They aspire but never attain. They run but in the wrong direction.

In reality, very few people find out what it truly means to live. Why is that?

Well, there’s this unavoidable problem that we all have: sin. It plagues us, causes us to self-destruct internally, harms us and other people, and is ultimately worthy of death in the eyes of a just and holy God (Rom 3:10-20).

What if the only way to truly live was to die (1Co 15:36)?

Romans 6 tells us that:

“[8] Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: [9] Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. [10] For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. [11] Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. [12] Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. [13] Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. [14] For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” - Romans 6:8-14

This death is not our mortal death, but the death of our old man. It is our death to the power of sin: the desires and lusts of our flesh made known by the law (Eph 2:1-6).

After trusting in Christ’s death and resurrection alone to save us from sin, our old man is crucified with Christ. We are identified with Christ’s death and resurrection. All of the sins that used to define and condemn us are no longer. Christ now lives in us and we now have a choice to walk by faith and serve the living God (Rom 3:21-28, 6:1-4, Gal 2:19-21, 6:14-15).

It’s only when we’re dead, that we can actually start living. When we’re dead, sin has no more power; we are liberated from its curse because Christ became a curse for us (Gal 3:13). You can’t charge a dead man with a crime which is why we need to die (Rom 7:1). The burden of condemnation is now lifted (Rom 8:1-4).

But how do we apply our death and life in Christ to change how we walk and experience what it means to truly live?

Even though we are dead and alive because of Christ, we oftentimes forget who we are and what we were saved to do. Whenever we struggle with sin in our flesh, we must reckon ourselves to be dead to sin (that it has no dominion over us) and that we are alive in Christ. We must remember that we can choose to walk in life now and how sweet and truly satisfying it is! We have the power of Christ to overcome (Php 4:13)!

When we change and renew our minds to align with who God says we are in His Body, it shifts our desires and affections toward what truly matters: God and His purpose (Rom 12:1-2). Only when we have the right heart and mind, can we start walking correctly and experience who Christ has made us to be.

Because our life is not our own and our fleshly lusts and affections are crucified (1Co 6:19-20, Gal 2:20,5:24), we should examine how we yield our members in our life. We should be ridding ourselves of opportunities to sin or succumb to our flesh, while simultaneously allowing ample opportunity to read, pray, and spend time in fellowship.

While to some it may seem like legalism to have structure, in reality, it is the application of truth to create discipline in order to grow in God’s grace. Without carving out intentional time for God, our flesh will avoid it and we won’t redeem the time we have. We must actively flee sin. It is not a passive process, it is intentional (Eph 4:22-24, 5:15-16, Rom 6:4, Jas 1:14-15, 1Co 10:12-14, 1Ti 6:3-12, Jas 4:5-8).

To have eternal life, to taste the sweet spiritual fruit that satisfies our soul, to be unconditionally loved, and to start truly living, we must first die through the cross of Christ so that we can live through His resurrection. Then, we must continue to remind ourselves of our current standing: dead to sin and alive in Christ.