Stop Living Like a Dead Man

Many Christians spend their lives trying to become someone new. They know they should be different than they were before Christ, so they work harder, make new promises, and try to overcome old habits and sins through sheer determination.

While there is certainly effort involved in the Christian life, many believers miss a truth that Paul repeats throughout the New Testament. The Christian life does not begin with us becoming something new. It begins with God making us something new.

Romans 6:13 says, “...present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

Notice the order. Paul does not say, “Present yourselves to God so that you can become alive.” He says, “Present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead.” The believer's obedience is not the cause of spiritual life. It is the result of spiritual life.

This theme runs throughout Romans chapter six. Earlier Paul writes, “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Notice that Paul does not describe the Christian life as merely turning over a new leaf or making a few improvements. He describes it as a death and a resurrection. Something old died, and something new came to life.

A few verses later he explains what died. “Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6).

That is where many believers get stuck. They continue to identify themselves by the person they used to be. They constantly look backward instead of forward. They define themselves by old failures, old sins, old habits, and old labels. Yet Paul points them back to the cross and reminds them that the old self was crucified with Christ.

This same truth appears throughout the New Testament. Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” He does not say he is trying to be crucified. He says it has already happened. His old life has been put to death, and Christ now lives within him.

Likewise, 2 Corinthians 5:17 declares, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” Scripture does not describe believers as repaired sinners. It describes them as new creations. Something fundamentally changed the moment God saved them.

This does not mean Christians never struggle. Every believer knows there is still a battle with temptation, the flesh, and the influence of the world. But there is a difference between fighting as a slave and fighting as a free man. Before Christ, we had no power over sin. After Christ, we have been given a new nature, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the ability to walk in obedience.

That is why Romans 6:13 is so important. Paul is telling believers to present themselves to God based on who they now are. They are not working to earn spiritual life. They are living because they already possess spiritual life.

Perhaps that is why Paul tells believers in Colossians 3:1–3, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is.... For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Notice again that Paul points to what has already happened. You have died. You have been raised. Therefore live accordingly.

Too many Christians spend their lives trying to become what God says they already are. They focus on the grave while God points them to the resurrection. They keep introducing themselves by their past while God identifies them by His grace.

Romans 6:13 calls us to see ourselves the way God sees us. We are people who were dead but have been made alive. We are no longer slaves to sin. We are no longer defined by the old man. We are no longer who we once were.

So stop living like a dead man.

If you belong to Christ, the old man has been crucified, buried, and left behind. Live like someone who has been raised to new life.

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“What I write is not for everyone, but what I write is meant for someone.” – Dean Butler

This work may be shared for ministry or personal use, but please credit the author when doing so. © Dean Butler