Lydia and I were talking the other day about how important perspective is.  We were listening to a message by Graham Cooke and we both realized that we had spent much of our Christian walk focusing on the wrong thing!  Let me explain:

It’s very common to hear a Christian say, “I’m a sinner saved by grace”.  There is truth to this statement, but it is a bit skewed.  Why?  Well, according to Scripture we were dead to sin, but now we are alive in Christ.  In other words, the old reality is that we were in sin, held captive by our flesh and desires.  The new reality is that we are alive in Christ!

If you are a Christian, you are alive in Christ!  In fact, the Bible says that you should, “also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” – Romans 6:11  Perspective is so important!!!  Do I really consider myself to be dead to the power of sin?  If I do, then why have I spent so much time focusing on defeating the sin in my life?

Imagine if my mental, emotional and spiritual energy went toward focusing on the latter part of that verse – being alive in Christ.  When my focus is on defeating my own sin, which Christ already did, chances are I’m going to continue struggling with it.  I am alive in Christ!

This also has implications on our view of accountability!  Instead of trying to call each other out for what we’ve done wrong or what we haven’t done, we can learn to call each other up into our identities.  Our identity is rooted in who God is and what Christ did, not in what we’ve done.  “Hey, don’t do that, that’s not who you are.  You are dead to that stuff.  You are alive in Christ.  He has created you for more.  How can I help you step into that?”

Considering yourself dead to sin, means purposefully choosing to think that you are.  It may even involve declaring this out loud until you really believe it.  Once you start believing it, you will find victory in ways you haven’t before.

YOU ARE DEAD TO SIN, SO CONSIDER YOURSELF DEAD TO IT AND DECLARE YOURSELF ALIVE IN CHRIST!