Dead to Sin

Romans 5:11 teaches that we should consider ourselves dead to the power of sin. Here’s a great illustration from Charles Stanley in his book Temptation, that explains what that means.

Someone who isn’t saved can be compared to a dog with a collar around it’s neck. The master says sit and if the dog doesn’t obey he yanks the chain to force the dog to do what he wants. The collar represents the power of sin. And when you’re not serving Jesus the power of sin has authority over your life.

But when someone accepts Jesus as Savior and Lord, God takes the collar off. He breaks it! Satan is still able to tell us “Lie!” or “Steal!” or “Lust!”, etc. but the difference for the believer is that he/she no longer has to obey. The power of sin no longer has any authority over the believer’s life.

I thought that was such a good way of explaining what it means for the power of sin to be broken in the life of a believer.