Why Do We Still Sin If Our Old Self Was Crucified With Christ?

Introduction

Romans 6:6 declares with bold clarity: “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.” Yet every believer knows the tension — if we were crucified with Christ, why do we still sin?

This question has generated multiple theological answers across church history. In this blog, we will explore the major views, and then argue that the most faithful to Paul’s teaching is the “flesh as mindset” view: sin lingers not as an ontological power but as a way of thinking inconsistent with our new identity.

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The Main Explanations of Why Believers Still Sin

1. Reformed / Calvinist View

• Answer: The old self was crucified, but indwelling sin remains until glorification.
• Theological Basis: Romans 7 describes the normal Christian struggle. Sin’s dominion is broken, but its presencepersists.
• Proponents: John Calvin, modern Reformed scholars like Douglas Moo.
• Strengths: Matches lived experience of ongoing sin.
• Weaknesses: Tends to normalize defeat and underplay Paul’s insistence on freedom in Romans 6.

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2. Lutheran View

• Answer: Christians are simul iustus et peccator (“simultaneously righteous and sinner”).
• Justification is complete, but the sinful self clings until death.
• Proponents: Martin Luther, Formula of Concord.
• Strengths: Honest realism about sin’s persistence.
• Weaknesses: Risks leaving believers without hope of real change.

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3. Wesleyan / Holiness View

• Answer: Sin remains because believers have not yet yielded fully. Entire sanctification can free from willful sin.
• Proponents: John Wesley, Phoebe Palmer, Keswick writers.
• Strengths: Takes Romans 6 seriously as a call to holiness.
• Weaknesses: Can foster perfectionism or despair when sin persists.

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4. Catholic & Orthodox View

• Answer: Baptism crucifies the old man, but concupiscence (inclination to sin) remains until glorification.
• Proponents: Augustine (later), Aquinas, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Orthodox liturgy.
• Strengths: Integrates sacramental theology.
• Weaknesses: Treats sin as quasi-substantial inclination rather than a defeated power.

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5. Existential / Liberal Protestant View

• Answer: “Crucifixion with Christ” is metaphorical — sin persists because humans continually fall short.
• Proponents: Rudolf Bultmann.
• Strengths: Stresses ethical responsibility.
• Weaknesses: Flattens Paul’s participatory realism into symbol.

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6. Mindset (Finished Work) View

• Answer: The old self really was crucified. Sin persists only when believers live from an old mindset (σάρξ, “flesh”), not from their new identity.
• Proponents: Watchman Nee (The Normal Christian Life), Keswick spirituality, many modern “grace” teachers (e.g., Andrew Wommack, Joseph Prince).
• Strengths: Upholds both Romans 6 (dead to sin) and Romans 8 (free in the Spirit). Gives believers confidence to live from their new nature.
• Weaknesses (apparent): Critics say it downplays sin’s ongoing presence (we’ll address this in Blog 3).

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Why the “Mindset” View Best Fits Paul

1. Paul’s language is definitive.
   • “Our old self was crucified” (Rom 6:6). Not “is being” or “will be.”
   • The indicative precedes the imperative: what God did is final.
2. The flesh (σάρξ) is often mental, not metaphysical.
   • Romans 8:5: “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.”
   • Paul ties flesh to mindset (φρόνημα), not to a surviving sinful essence.
3. Sin’s dominion is broken.
   • Romans 6:14: “Sin will have no dominion over you.”
   • If sin remains as an indwelling principle, this verse loses force.
4. Other passages confirm.
   • Colossians 3:3: “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
   • Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ.”
   • The believer’s identity is resurrection life, not ongoing bondage.

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Application: Living in the New Mindset

If sin remains only as a mindset, then the call is not to “fight an old nature” but to renew the mind (Rom 12:2). Temptation comes as a lie: “you are still the old you.” Victory comes by reckoning: “I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.”

This shifts the battle from trying harder to believing deeper. As Watchman Nee observed: “Our old history ends with the Cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.”

In practice:

• When you fail, remind yourself: that action does not define me; my identity is in Christ.
• When you are tempted, declare: that power is broken; I am not under sin’s rule.

Freedom is not striving to crucify the old self, but living from the reality that it already was crucified. You can also read If I have Died with Him, why do I still feel like sinning?