Obtaining Victory Over Sin - NetBibleStudy.com

Victory Over Sin 40poverty, or at the dispensations of Divine Providence –- an over anxious feelingabout whether everything will come out all right? Formality and deadness –- lack of concern for lost souls –- dryness andindifference –- lack of power with God?God’s SolutionFortunately, God chose to become involved in our predicament. The death ofHis Son, Jesus Christ, was a solution designed to free us from the frustration of thedissatisfaction of the deeds of the flesh. We, for the moment, enjoy the works of theflesh, but afterward, hate ourselves for what we yielded to. We resolve to change,however, later find our self-craving the same old sins.Christ’s death accomplished many objectives. The Cross of Christ is the basis forour forgiveness. It is also the basis for our spiritual freedom --- deliverance from ourstubborn habits. To appreciate what Christ accomplished, we should becomeacquainted with two expressions --- “in Adam,” and, “in Christ.”When Adam sinned, the whole human race was plunged into chaos. Hisdescendants have never recovered from that disaster. Our sin nature was inheritedfrom our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents; our ancestry can be tracedback to the Garden of Eden. As a result, we are sinners by nature and already undersin’s condemnation. Being “in Adam” means we are victimized by sin, and quiteliterally cannot help our self --- we sin as naturally as birds sprout feathers.But because of Christ’s death, believers are transferred from being “in Adam,” tobeing, “in Christ.” God breaks our past ties and Christ becomes our new ancestor –spiritually speaking. That’s why Paul refers more than 100 times to believes as being“in Christ.” It’s the basis for a whole new life!All of this seems rather theoretical. Is there some value to this transfer ofrelationship? After all, when we were converted, we still looked the same, felt thesame, and, unfortunately, often acted the same. On the surface, it sounds like being. “inChrist,” or, “in Adam,” is only a matter of words.Not so! Think of a child who is adopted from one family to another. The fact ofadoption doesn’t change his appearance or his actions. But if he is taken from a familyof slaves and adopted into family of kings, he inherits a new set of relationships.“Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold,new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).Here’s what happens: God identifies all believes with Christ, not in somemystical or theoretical way, but by changing our legal relationships. Before ourconversion, we were obligated to obey the sinful impulses of our fallen race. Even when