I can remember it like it was yesterday. About two years into my Christian walk, I found myself giving into sin a lot more than I wanted to. At times it would almost feel like I had no choice but to sin, as if the odds of living a Godly lifestyle were against me. It was like I had this large unliftable weight that stood in my way, keeping me from being able to live the life I knew Christ wanted me to. Still, I knew that I could not blame Satan or this world for my actions. Sure they played a big part in their constant attacks to distract me to the point of sin, but when it came down to it I knew that I was the only one to blame for the choices I made leading to sin. I felt like a pathetic Christian. The misery of rebelling in sin drew me to Christ with pleas for help. Looking up to the heavens with great pain, I said, "Lord save me from myself." Imagine my confusion when my heavenly Father replied, " I have." When we received Christ as Savior, He crucified our old self (sinner, sin nature, life in Adam), so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. In Romans 6:6, Paul urges us to know that we have been crucified with Christ. If we know that our old self was crucified and we believe it by faith, then we are able to experience the freedom from sin that we now have in Christ. When I asked Father to save me from myself, I determined who I was based off my behavior. I believed that because I sin, I must be the problem, so I prayed "change me." My real problem was that I was believing that I was the old self instead of believing what He says about me. The result was I believed I was still a slave to sin, and it resulted in sin. My true identity is that the old sinner I used to be has been crucified with Christ and now I am free from sin. Once we sinned by nature, it was all we could do. But thanks be to God, who not only cleansed us form our sins, but also took care of the source of the problem--our sin nature. To be continued…. Living righteously from a new nature.

"Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him,
in order that our body sin might be done away with,
so that we would no longer be slaves to sin:"
Romans 6:6