The suffering and death of the Lord Jesus not only put my sins away, but put me away as well. When Christ died, God says that I died with Him.
Within me, sin dwells in my flesh. That sinful flesh is determined to have its own way and will never change. God tells me that He has condemned that sin in me. I am not to live according to the desires of the flesh anymore, for my Saviour is also my Deliverer.
I could not deliver myself from the power of that sin in my flesh. Because I have His life in resurrection, I have the desire to please God in my life, and by His Word I have the knowledge of what pleases Him. But desire and knowledge are not enough. I need power to overcome the sin that dwells in my body of death.
The Word tells me that God delivers me through Christ, and having delivered me, the Spirit that dwells within me is stronger than the flesh in me. So I can and should be an overcomer. But am I?
As the writers in this issue explain, this truth of deliverance from the power of sin is learned by experience. Each must learn it individually in the school of God. But God is a perfect and patient teacher, so let us not despise the need to learn or faint under the painful lessons that are part of the learning process.