Introduction
Romans 6:6 declares: “Our old self was crucified with Him, in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” I believe this verse is not metaphor, not legal fiction, but divine reality. My old self truly died with Christ.
So why do I still face sin? The answer is simple: sin no longer reigns in me, but I sometimes think as though it does. The flesh is not a surviving sinful nature — it is a mindset, a way of thinking apart from the Spirit. This truth is liberating, but critics raise objections. Let’s face them head on with Scripture.
Objection 1: Paul Describes Flesh as an Active Power
Romans 7 speaks of a “law of sin” waging war in the members (7:23). Galatians 5:17 says the flesh and Spirit are opposed. Many read this as proof of a surviving sinful nature.
But the Word of God interprets itself. Romans 7 describes a person under law, not a Spirit-filled believer. Paul cries, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” and immediately answers: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (7:24–25). Romans 8 then declares: “The law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
The flesh is not a second sinful nature. Paul defines it: “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh” (Rom 8:5). Flesh = mindset. If I walk by the Spirit, the flesh has no say (Gal 5:16).
Objection 2: This View Minimizes Sin’s Seriousness
Some fear that saying “the flesh is only a mindset” makes sin trivial. But the opposite is true. If the old man truly died, then sin is rebellion against my identity, not inevitability. That makes sin more serious, not less.
Paul says, “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Rom 6:2). If I think of sin as an indwelling nature, I excuse it as unavoidable. If I see sin as contrary to my identity, I refuse to bow to it.
Sin is serious because I no longer have to obey it. To walk in sin now is to live a lie.
Objection 3: Real Christians Still Struggle Deeply
Yes, Christians stumble. But Paul explains why: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2). The battle is not with an old nature inside me — it is in my thinking. When I forget who I am, I act like what I am not.
Paul does not say, “Crucify your old self.” He says it was crucified. My task is to “consider [logizesthe] yourselves dead to sin and alive to God” (Rom 6:11). Struggle comes when I fail to reckon this truth. Victory comes when I believe it.
Objection 4: Church History Doesn’t Support This
It is true that many traditions speak of “indwelling sin” or “concupiscence.” But the ultimate authority is not tradition, but Scripture. Paul consistently speaks of a completed fact:
- “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3).
- “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live” (Gal 2:20).
- “Sin will have no dominion over you” (Rom 6:14).
If church history hesitated to take these words at face value, that is their shortfall. I choose to stand where the text stands.
Objection 5: Doesn’t This Lead to Denial or Perfectionism?
No. I do not deny sin, nor do I claim perfection. But I refuse to call sin my nature. When I stumble, I confess, I get up, and I declare: “That was not me — that was me walking contrary to who I am in Christ.”
Paul said, “It is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me” (Rom 7:17). He wasn’t excusing sin, but distinguishing his true identity from the lie. That distinction is freedom.
Objection 6: What About the “Already–Not Yet”?
Yes, we await bodily redemption (Rom 8:23). But spiritually, the work is finished. There is no “not yet” when it comes to the death of the old self. That part is past tense. What is future is only the resurrection body.
I live in the tension of earth and heaven, weakness and Spirit, but my identity is never split. The old self is not limping along — it is crucified.
Application: Live the Mind of Christ
If the flesh is a mindset, then victory comes not by striving, but by renewing the mind. When I am tempted, I remind myself:
- I am dead to sin.
- I am alive to God.
- Sin has no dominion over me.
This is not positive thinking; it is reckoning the truth of the cross. As Watchman Nee wrote: “Our old history ends with the Cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.”
When I live from that mindset, I walk in the freedom Christ purchased.
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