1. “He who has died is justified from sin” (Rom. 6:7).
Only death can enable us to avoid sin because death frees a person from sin. For example, it is difficult for a person who is addicted to opium to break this habit, but when he dies, he is freed from this habit. Therefore, we must die in order to avoid sinning. We do not need to be zealous to do good or strive to refuse sin; we must die in order to avoid sin. The way in which we die is revealed in the Bible.
2. “Our old man has been crucified with Him” (Rom. 6:6).
We have already been crucified with Christ. This fact was applied when we were baptized. We do not have to put ourselves to death because we have already died with Christ. We were crucified with Christ on the cross of Christ. We do not have to crucify ourselves; we have been crucified with Christ on the cross. If we see this fact and receive this fact, we can be freed from sin and will be able to avoid sin.
3. “Reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11).
If we see and receive the fact of our crucifixion with Christ by faith, we can reckon ourselves dead to sin but living to God. When Christ died on the cross, we were included in His death and crucified with Him. In ourselves we are not dead, but in Christ we are dead. Thus, in Christ we can reckon ourselves to be dead. If we look only at ourselves, we are still alive, but if we reckon ourselves in Christ, we will be dead to sin. Therefore, we should not look at ourselves; we should only reckon ourselves in Christ. If we reckon ourselves as being alive, we will be under the bondage of sin and will sin. If we reckon that we are dead in Christ, we will be freed from the authority of sin and able to avoid sin.
4. “Do not let sin therefore reign in your mortal body...but present yourselves...and your members as weapons of righteousness to God” (Rom. 6:12-13).
Since we have seen the fact that we have been crucified with Christ and since we reckon ourselves dead in Christ, we should not let sin reign in our mortal bodies or let it have any place in us. We should present ourselves to God and present our members as weapons of righteousness to God. After we have seen and received the fact of our death with Christ, we should consecrate ourselves to God, completely giving ourselves and our bodies to Him. Such a consecration is a declaration to sin that we will not cooperate with it, and it is a declaration to God that we will cooperate with Him. We can take our entire being back from the control of sin and give it to God to let Him rule us and use us. Our death with Christ causes sin to lose its authority over us so that we can be freed from sin, and our resurrection with Christ makes us living to God, causes us to live in God, and gives Him a position in us. Therefore, we can refuse to allow sin to reign in our body, and we can present ourselves and our bodies to God to be completely possessed and gained by Him. If we are willing to reject sin and cooperate to present ourselves to God, we can be freed from the bondage of sin and avoid sin.
5. “The law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death” (Rom. 8:2).
After we see and receive the fact of our death with Christ and consecrate ourselves to God, we should live according to the law of the Spirit of life. The law of the Spirit of life causes us to enjoy the resurrection power of God’s life and frees us from the law that makes us sin unto death. Therefore, we must live according to the law of the Spirit of life in order to avoid sin.
6. “Walk...according to the spirit...Mind...the things of the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4-5).
If we want to avoid sin, we must also walk according to the Spirit and mind the things of the Spirit. This is to live in the Spirit and in the fellowship of the Lord’s life. The reality of our death with the Lord is available in our experience of the fellowship of the Lord’s life. The law of the Spirit of life is in the Spirit to manifest its function of freeing us from sin. Therefore, we must walk according to the Spirit, and we must mind the things of the Spirit in order to live in the fellowship of the Lord’s life, to be freed from sin, and to avoid sin.
We avoid sin by being freed from sin, not by subduing sin or overcoming sin. The Bible never tells us to overcome sin but rather to be freed from sin. The Lord’s salvation frees us from sin. The Lord’s way of salvation does not eradicate sin; it releases us from sin (Rom. 8:2; 6:18, 22). Even though sin still remains, we can be freed from it. Thus, we can avoid sin.
The way for us to avoid sin and to be freed from sin is to see the reality of our death with Christ, to reckon ourselves dead in Christ, to consecrate ourselves to God, to live according to the law of the Spirit of life, and to live in fellowship with the Lord by walking according to the Spirit and minding the things of the Spirit.