For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with
Romans 6:6
Devotional Message
Paul states what “we know”—not what we hope might happen someday but what’s already true: “Our old self was crucified with him.” Past tense, completed action, finished reality. When Christ went to the cross, He didn’t die alone—your old self was executed alongside Him. The person you were before Christ, dominated by ego and enslaved to sin, died at Calvary. This isn’t metaphor or aspiration but spiritual fact underlying your existence. The old self isn’t wounded or weakened; it’s crucified, put to death, finished.
“So that the body ruled by sin might be done away with” reveals the purpose of this crucifixion. Not to punish you but to liberate you, breaking sin’s tyranny over your physical existence. “The body ruled by sin” describes life lived under sin’s dominion, where your choices, desires, and actions are controlled by patterns you cannot break. But when the old self was crucified, sin’s ruling power was done away with—not improved or managed but eliminated, rendered powerless.
“That we should no longer be slaves to sin” states the outcome of crucifixion. Slavery means no choice, no freedom, no power to refuse what enslaves you. But because your old self was crucified with Christ, you’re no longer slave—sin may still tempt, but it cannot compel. You have choice now, agency you lacked when enslaved, freedom to refuse what once controlled you. The contemplative invitation is to live from this freedom rather than still acting like slave when you’ve been emancipated. Your old self is dead; sin’s ruling power is done away with; you are no longer slave. Believe it and live from it.
Let’s Pray
Christ, help me live from the reality that my old self was crucified with You—past tense, completed action, finished. Thank You that the body ruled by sin has been done away with, that I’m no longer slave to patterns I cannot break. When sin tries to assert old dominion, remind me that person is dead and I am free. Amen.
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