Dead to sin

by Emily Wooten
Romans 6:2–4…How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
February 18th through April 2, 2026, some denominations will be observing Lent. What is Lent? Lent marks a six-week period in some Church calendars, starting with Ash Wednesday and concluding on Holy Saturday or Easter Sunday. People practice what they believe to be acts of submission and sacrifice, denying their flesh to try and endeavor to be closer to God.
Paul did tell us in Romans 3:23, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Thank God we are not left there. Verse 24 continues to qualify: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”
Romans 6 continues in verses 7–12: For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
We aren’t made overcomers by works of the flesh. Revelations 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;
2 Corinthians 10:3–5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
All year long we are instructed to cast down unruly thoughts. James 4:7: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Every temptation, addiction, or weakness can be overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony or agreeing with what God has said about us.
Fasting is one way to submit our flesh. How about Hebrews 13:15: By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Worship can help to bring our fles into submission.
Romans 12:1–2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
24/7, 365 days a year, we have the opportunity through the tools God has given us to keep our flesh under or in subjection.
Romans 8:13–14 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 6:13-14 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.