This Day-12 devotion is adapted from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermon "Dead to Sin”

Dead to Sin

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:1-2)

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones identified a paradoxical form of spiritual depression that arises from misunderstanding grace. Some believers feel perpetually defeated by sin because they haven't grasped what happened to them at conversion.

Paul addresses a distortion of grace that still plagues the church today: the idea that God's forgiveness gives license to sin. His response is emphatic: "By no means!" The apostle doesn't merely offer a practical objection but a theological impossibility: "How can we who died to sin still live in it?"

Lloyd-Jones emphasized that this is not merely aspirational language but a statement of spiritual reality. When Christ died, believers died with Him. This death to sin isn't something Christians accomplish through effort but something they receive through union with Christ.

Many Christians experience depression because they approach sin management backward. They try to become dead to sin through personal effort rather than recognizing they are already dead to sin through Christ's work. They focus on their continuing struggles rather than their new identity.

This misunderstanding leads to a cycle of defeat. Believers sin, feel guilty, resolve to do better, fail again, and sink deeper into depression. Their fundamental problem is fighting a battle from the wrong position—as slaves trying to become free rather than as free people resisting re-enslavement.

Paul's solution begins with understanding: "Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11). Before changing behavior, we must embrace our new identity. We don't fight for victory; we fight from victory already secured.

Today, if you're depressed by ongoing struggles with sin, examine whether you've fully grasped your death to sin's power. Your individual sins don't define your spiritual state; your union with Christ does. You are not a sinner trying to become holy but a holy person who sometimes sins.

This perspective doesn't minimize sin's seriousness but maximizes Christ's accomplishment. By faith, reckon yourself dead to sin's dominion even while fighting its influence. Your position in Christ, not your performance for Christ, defines your spiritual reality.