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Dying To Sin And Living In Christ

Dying To Sin And Living In Christ

Last updated on: September 20, 2026 at 1:06 am by Henry Karlson

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Dying To Sin And Living In Christ 2026-09-20T01:06:45-05:00 Henry Karlson

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We are called to pick up our cross and follow Christ; if we do so we will find him living in us and we in him. Photo: Elias: Two Crosses Outside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre / Wikimedia Commons

Not only are Christians meant to seek forgiveness for their sins, they are try to stop sinning. Yes, it is not always easy, and there is mercy and grace offered to those actively trying to stop but find it difficult to do so (since, often, their sin has become habitual, or like an addiction). God is merciful, but God expects us to do our part. Jesus didn’t tell us we are to say a particular prayer once, often early on in our life, saying we are sorry for our sins, and then think we are saved and we can go back to sinning. We are to resist temptation. We are expected to do our part. If we don’t, if we are slothful, we will find many of our sins just gain a stronger hold over us, and if we excuse them because we say we are saved, our presumption could lead to our perdition.

To be sure, we can’t save ourselves without help. Others can help, as they can watch over us, encourage us to do what is right, and give us ways to resist temptation. But that also will not be enough. We also need God and God’s grace. Our sin has undermined our potential, left us, in a sense, crippled. Others can help us similar to the way a person bound to a wheelchair can be helped by those who push him or her. Grace, on the other hand, helps in a different fashion; it heals us so that we do not have to be bound by the wheelchair. That is, sin undermines our potential, while grace helps restore it. But grace won’t do it without our cooperation; God doesn’t force salvation upon us. God expects us to do our part. We must activate that grace by engaging various virtues; that way, we not only find ourselves healed, we find ourselves establishing good habits, habits which will help us resist temptation and continue to do what is good; we will become better persons, which is what God wants for us. Nonetheless, we must be careful and remember that as long as we live, we must resist temptation; we must not get lazy, for if we do, we are liable to find those sins we thought we were victorious against gaining victory over us, and often taking greater control over us and our lives than before. We must, as it were, run the race to the very end; grace gives us the energy, the potential, to do so. If we think, at some time, that we have done enough, if we have repented and improved ourselves enough, or worse, if we think we are saved by grace without any need on our part to cooperate with it and use it to stop sinning, we risk becoming greater sinners, transgressing God and God’s ways. We are not to say, “I’m saved, so it is fine.” It’s not fine. We must not use grace, and Christ’s mercy, to promote sin and the ways of sin:

But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor (Gal. 2:17-18 RSV).

After he turned to Christ, Paul understood that he must let Christ transform him and make him a new, and therefore better, person. He knew he must engage the grace given, using it to make sure he did good in the world. He knew how easy it would be to do otherwise, to slip back into his old habits. Paul told us this for our own good, to remind us we must not tear down the structures of sin, both in our lives, and in society, only to build the back up again. That is, while Paul consisted explained the central role of grace in the process of salvation, he rejects any notion of cheap grace. If we presume our salvation, we risk turning back to sin, finding ourselves once again far away from God.

As Christians, we are to become holy like God is holy, to become pure, free from every sin. Even if it is not likely that we will achieve such a goal before we die, we should aim for it, doing what we can to resist sin; if we do, we will find the grace given to us will continue to work in us, helping to purify us after death. That is, death is not the end; after death, there can and will be further transformation, further engagements with grace, until we become the person God intended us to be. God will not abandon us. But, to be clear, it starts now. We don’t have to wait for death to be transformed. We should not act like we can put it off then, and enjoy a life of sin. Christ draws us into himself, giving us grace, expecting us to cooperate with it so that even now we can and will experience, at least in part, the perfection which we will have in eternity; that is, we should find ourselves becoming better people now. We should see some of the work of Christ in our lives, helping us in our struggles against sin. We might even find, from time to time, we end up doing some extraordinary good in the world. Paul experienced this in himself, which is why he was able to say:

For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:19-20 RSV).

Paul had an extraordinary experience of Christ, one which changed him. He would be the first to acknowledge his changed happened as of result of what Christ did for him, that without grace, he would have remained in his sins. But he didn’t treat grace cheaply. He cooperated with it. He let the changes continue. He pushed himself to resist his own sinful tendencies. He chose to live as Christ wanted him to live. He became someone quite different from his youth; while he was once led by pride and vainglory, he was latter led by Christ, allowing himself to die to the self and become someone in whom Christ continued to act in and with the world. He knew that what he was eventually able to achieve was due to Christ and how Christ lived in him and strengthened him and his resolve. Paul did not say this to prop himself up, to suggest he had a special relationship which Christ which no one else could have. Rather, he is using himself as an example for us all, so that we can have hope for our own transformation. We are called to open ourselves up to Christ, to let him work in and through us, to live in us. We are to “crucify” ourselves, denying inordinate desires which lead us to sin. In this way, Paul merely reiterated what Christ taught, that is, to be his disciple, we must pick up our cross and follow after him: “And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’” (Mk. 8:34 RSV).

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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

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