Today’s Scripture: Romans 4:8

“Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

We’re free from both the guilt and the reigning power or dominion of sin in our lives. But of what use is this information to us? How can it help when we’re struggling with persistent sin patterns and see ourselves giving in to sinful desires? Here’s where Paul’s instructions in Romans 6:11 can help us: “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (NIV).

Paul isn’t telling us to do something but to believe something. We’re to count on, or believe, that we’re dead to sin.

We’re dead to its guilt. God no longer counts it against us. We’re no longer under condemnation (Romans 4:8; 8:1). This is not make-believe. You are indeed guilty in yourself, but God no longer regards you as guilty, because the guilt has already been borne by Christ as your substitute. The sentence has been served. The penalty has been paid. To use Paul’s expresion, you have died to sin’s guilt.

When we’re painfully conscious of sin in our lives, it’s difficult to count on the fact that we’re dead to its guilt. All the more reason to hold steadfast to the promise of God. Just as it seemed incredible to Abraham that he could have a son when he was nearly a hundred years old and Sarah’s womb was dead, so it often seems incredible to us to believe that we’ve died to sin’s guilt when it appears so ugly in our own sight. But just as Abraham did not weaken in faith, but believed the promise of God, so we must believe what God says to us. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We have died to sin’s guilt.

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