Read: Romans 6:6 ‘For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin’

Paul tells us to KNOW that our old self is dead and that we have a new life to live. A life lived by, in and through the grace of God. Key in this verse, key to our joy in the journey as a Christian and key to our identity in Christ is the word KNOW.

ILL: The Emancipation Proclamation became law on Dec. 18, 1865. The legal identity of all slaves living in the US instantly changed. Their old identity as property/slaves was done away with. They received a new identity as citizens. Why was this important? Because this changed their relationship with their previous owners. Their previous owners continued to live, but their authority over them was now removed, so that they were no longer legally obligated to live as slaves.

Q: How important do you think this knowledge was to those who had been slaves in the US in 1865?

    It was a matter of life and death. Do you know that thousands continued to live on as slaves because their ex-owners kept this information from them?

    Because of the ‘sin’ consciousness of many Christians and churches today, we have not been free to live, to truly live by grace….No longer!