(3.) In Rom. 6:77For he that is dead is freed from sin. (Romans 6:7) we read: “he that is dead is freed from sin;” and in 1 John 1:8: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Now the Christian is dead, and yet he cannot say, he has no sin; how then is he dead?
Ans. — Paul speaks of a place given us by God in Christ, and of the result of Christ’s work for us, only known by faith. His words in Rom. 6:77For he that is dead is freed from sin. (Romans 6:7) are, as in the margin, “he that is dead is justified from sin.” Sin, whether the nature or the fruit of it, cannot be charged upon one who lifts died with Christ, and for whom all has thus been settled.
John on the other hand speaks, not of position, but of what we are still, looked at as men down here, although converted men. He is showing how people “in the light,” which shines upon them and manifests them, see themselves.
These are the two lines of truth, always kept distinct in Scripture, and needing to be kept so by ourselves when reading it: the work of Christ for us, and the work of the Spirit in us.
WHAT a thought for me, a poor vessel carrying the incorruptible seed — that Christ is watching to lift me over every difficulty, to enable me to overcome. The only way to be an overcomer is just to have faith in that Christ of God. God can trust Christ to get us over all difficulties and extremities. God is using the wilderness as the place where every step leaves traces of His mercies. The whole place recalls to God the way He led each believer on to His paradise; the very difficulties being an occasion of nearer association with His Christ.