Devotional Message

Paul issues a command that sounds impossible: “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” This counting isn’t wishful thinking or pretending something’s true that isn’t—it’s recognizing what’s already real through your union with Christ. When Christ died, you died with Him. When He rose, you rose with Him. Sin’s power over you was broken at the cross; life’s power in you was activated at the resurrection. “Count yourselves” means reckon with this reality, calculate your identity based on Christ’s death and resurrection rather than on your current struggles or failures.

“Dead to sin” doesn’t mean you won’t be tempted or won’t sometimes choose wrongly—it means sin no longer has ultimate authority over you, no longer defines your identity, no longer holds you captive to patterns you cannot break. The death is already accomplished through Christ; your work is counting it as true, operating from the reality that sin’s dominion ended when you were crucified with Christ. “Alive to God” reveals what replaces death—not merely absence of sin but presence of divine life, vitality flowing from union with the living God.

The contemplative practice here is daily reckoning: when sin whispers that you’re still enslaved, count yourself dead to its claims. When old patterns try to reassert control, remind yourself they’re operating on corpse—the person who was enslaved to those patterns died with Christ. When temptation feels overwhelming, count yourself alive to God, drawing on resurrection life that’s stronger than whatever’s pulling you toward death. This isn’t denying struggle but refusing to let struggle define you. You are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus—count it as true until you live from it instinctively.

Let’s Pray

God, teach me to count myself dead to sin and alive to You in Christ Jesus. When sin whispers that I’m still enslaved, help me remember that person died with Christ. When old patterns try to reassert control, remind me they’re operating on a corpse. May I draw on resurrection life within me that’s stronger than whatever pulls me toward death. Amen.

---

Thank you for making God and Man a part of your spiritual journey. Please check out the rest of our website and if you need further encouragement, we have a beautiful library of prayers for almost every occasion located here.