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flee from you" (James 4:7). But before we
can effectively resist the devil, we must first
submit to God and obey Him.
Dead to Sin
Jesus has already paid the price to free us
from the dominion of sin. When we believe
Jesus is the Son of God, that He was raised
from the dead, and we confess Him as Lord,
we are saved according to Romans 10:9-10.
Colossians 1:13 tells us that at the moment
of our salvation, we are delivered out of the
kingdom of darkness and translated into
the kingdom of God's dear Son. This is not
something that happens when we die. We
live in that Kingdom now.
When you are born again, the old sin
nature that used to be on the inside of you
dies. A new nature created in righteousness
and true holiness is born. "Therefore if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The very life of God Himself is
the substance of that new man.
Righteousness—being in right-standing
with God—not sin, is now your nature.
That righteousness is imparted to you by
the Holy Spirit through the new birth.
Your spirit is instantly changed when you
are born again, but your mind and your body
are not. It's your responsibility to fulfill the
righteousness that is imparted to you. You
do this by renewing your mind (Romans
12:2). This change of thinking reveals what
God says in His Word. It transforms your
entire life as you believe and obey. It enables
you to walk out the will of God and walk in
His blessing.
Romans 6:6 says it's in knowing this
that we will no longer serve sin. Our spirit
is already dead to sin and re-created in
righteousness. That inner righteousness
becomes outwardly apparent when we
renew our minds to this fact, and act
accordingly.
The moment you are born again, sin
