Killing your Sin 5

The Bible is clear regarding what the phrase “killing your sin” means. It is equally clear why we are to kill our sin. But how does the follower of Christ carry out this important and noteworthy responsibility and command from God? Do the Scriptures give any practical direction as to how believers kill their sin? The answer is a hearty yes. 

David Nassar, in his book A Call to Die, writes, “Paul (the apostle) realized that sin continues to rear its ugly head until we die, or are raptured and he wrote in letter after letter how to help people deal effectively with their sin. He instructed us to be ruthless. Brutal. Showing no mercy to sin. If we let sin have its way, it will take root and destroy us; so don’t mess around. Kill it!” 

Last time we defined what it means to kill your sin and why we are to do so. This morning we look at the practical ways to kill our sin. How do we begin and continue to kill our sin? Secondly, when do we begin killing our sin? 

The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:12-13, “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13 ESV)

Paul says to fellow believers that as believers in Christ we are obligated and duty bound to no longer live in a consistent sinful manner. If anyone does so, they are living in a consistent manner of sinfulness. This condition not only indicates they are presently unconverted to Christ but will encounter eternal death, the second death, at the final judgment. 

The contrast is the individual who lives by the Spirit and daily puts to death the sinful activities of this life. This individual not only possesses eternal life in the here and now, but will also experience the fullness of eternal life in Christ for eternity in heaven. 

Therefore, the first condition for knowing “how” to kill your sin is by first being converted unto eternal life in Christ. The Bible says, “Therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17 ESV)

Killing your sin requires a previous work of God in your soul. Salvation! Becoming a new creature in Christ! Only by receiving a new nature, through the regenerating work by the Holy Spirit, can anyone hope to fulfill the commands by God, avoid the consequences from God and achieve the ultimate purpose of killing sin, which is holiness before God.