The Christian life doesn’t begin with trying harder.
It begins with a funeral.
Before there is victory, there must be death.
Before there is fruit, there must be reckoning.
Before there is walk, there must be identity.
And according to the Apostle Paul, the believer has already died three times:
1. DEAD TO SIN
“How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
— Romans 6:2
Sin still exists.
Temptation still appears.
The flesh still screams.
But in Christ we are no longer slaves to it.
Sin lost its legal claim.
Its dominion is broken.
Not by law.
Not by self-discipline.
But by union with Christ’s death and resurrection.
2. DEAD TO THE LAW
“Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ…”
— Romans 7:4
The law could command — but it could not enable.
It could reveal sin — but it could not remove sin.
It could condemn — but it could not justify.
In Adam we were under sin.
In Christ we are under grace.
Not a license to sin.
But liberation from a system that could never produce righteousness.
3. DEAD TO THE FLESH
“They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh…”
— Galatians 5:24
The flesh does not improve.
It does not reform.
It does not sanctify.
God’s solution was not to fix the flesh, but to crucify it — and give us the Spirit as the new operating principle.
▪️WHY THIS MATTERS
Paul doesn’t tell us to feel dead to sin.
He tells us to reckon it so (Romans 6:11).
To believe what God says is true about us in Christ.
Because the Christian life is not lived by:
• willpower
• law-keeping
• religious performance
But by:
• identity
• reckoning
• yielding
▪️AND HERE IS THE GLORY
Dead to sin — yet alive unto God (Romans 6:11)
Dead to law — yet joined to Christ (Romans 7:4)
Dead to flesh — yet walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16)
This is not self-improvement.
This is new creation life.
This is grace in operation.
And this is why Paul’s distinct message matters — because only under grace do you find this threefold death, and this threefold life.
