Romans 6:1-11 NKJV

[1] What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? [2] Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? [3] Or do you not know that as many of us were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? [4] Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. [5] For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, [6] knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. [7] For he who has died has been freed from sin. [8] Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, [9] knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. [10] For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. [11] Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When I was a teenager, I wrestled with the notion that I could live apart from sin. I thought that if I had enough willpower, I could free myself from the lust issues I dealt with on a daily basis. I believed that my inability to avoid certain behaviors would send me to hell. I (the man in me) HAD TO DO BETTER.

Can you imagine thinking it was your responsibility to successfully complete a task you weren't equipped for? That was me.

I was forty-one years old before I understood what it meant to die to myself. My flesh couldn't accomplish the goals of sanctification apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. My flesh problems couldn't be fought in the flesh. I had to die to the notion that I could do it. I had to surrender my will, my wants, and my desires. I couldn't be free from bondage if I kept holding onto the chains.

I can't claim to get everything right. The demons of addiction still exist. If Jesus has dominion over me, the battles of my flesh have no power over me. They are still there, but I maintain a closeness to Christ that steadies my focus on the cross.