We must see clearly the relationship between sin and death. Christ died to deliver us not only from sin but also from death. God is calling us to overcome both. As sinners we were originally dead in sin, and sin and death reigned (as kings) in us. Because the Lord Jesus died for us, our sin and death were swallowed up by His death. Death was originally the king in us. Since we have been baptized into His death, however, we are not only dead unto sin; we are also able to receive life and live unto God (6:11). We are joined unto Christ; therefore, as "death lords it over Him no more" (v. 9), so neither can it bind us anymore (v. 14). The salvation of Christ replaces sin with righteousness and death with life. If we read this passage of the Bible carefully, we shall see that these are the main points of the apostle. If we receive only half, surely we will not be complete. When the apostle speaks of the completeness of the salvation of the Lord Jesus, he says, "For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death" (8:2). We may have much experience of overcoming sin, but how much have we experienced overcoming death?

Because God's uncreated life entered into our spirit when we believed in the Lord and were regenerated, we have some experience in overcoming death. But is this the only experience that we can possibly have? To what extent can life overcome death? One thing is certain: most of today's believers have not experienced the overcoming of death to the degree that God has purposed. We must admit that death operates in us in a stronger way than does life. Therefore, we should pay equal attention to both sin and death in the same way that God does. We must overcome death in the same way that we overcome sin.

Since Christ has overcome death, believers need not feel that they must die, although they still may die. Similarly, since Christ has condemned sin in the flesh, believers no longer must sin, although they still may sin. Since it is a believer's goal to be free from sin, it should also be his goal to be free from death. A believer should understand that as a consequence of the death and resurrection of Christ, his relationship with death is the same as his relationship with sin. He has overcome these completely in Christ; therefore, God is now calling him to overcome them in his experience. We think that since Christ has overcome death for us we do not have to do anything. But if this were the case, we would not be able to testify to the Lord's victory experientially. Without Golgotha, we would have no ground for victory. But passively waiting for nature to take its own course is not the way to overcome either. We do not overcome sin this way; neither do we overcome death this way. God desires that we take the matter of overcoming death as a reality; that is, by the death of Christ, we overcome the death in us practically. We have overcome many temptations, the flesh, the world, and Satan; now we should rise up to defeat the power of death.

Since we must resist death in the same way that we resist sin, our attitude toward death should be totally changed. Because death is the common heritage of fallen man, we naturally tend to be submissive to it. Believers have not learned to resist death. All mankind is inclined toward the grave. Although we know that the Lord's second coming is very close and that not everyone will die because of the rapture, in our daily experience most of us are still waiting for death. When the righteousness of God operates in us, we spontaneously hate sin; but we have not allowed God's life to work in us so that we would also hate death.