The Spirit in the Believer: Emancipation--Freed From Sin

J. Oswald Sanders served as superintendent of the New Zealand Bible Training Institute for a number of years and later became Home Director for the China Inland Mission for Australia and New Zealand.  He was then appointed General Director of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship.  He wrote a number of books and the following is from The Holy Spirit of Promise:

"Not content with imparting this new life, the Holy Spirit emancipates the new man from the domination of sin.  'The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.'

"This truth is almost as revolutionary as that of regeneration.  Comparatively few Christians either know or believe that Christ's death and resurrection made deliverance from the power of indwelling sin possible.  Nor do they know that the Spirit is waiting to make this deliverance an actual fact in their experience.

"Three times over in Romans 6 Paul repeats three glorious words, 'free from sin'--emancipation, and holds them out as the right of every believer.

"In this verse, two opposing laws are mentioned operating in the Christian's heart.  The stronger of these is said to emancipate the Christian from the power of the weaker.

"I have in my hand a piece of lead.  I hold it over a pool of water, and relax my grip.  The lead is drawn irresistibly earthwards and sinks in the bottom of the pool.  It has been mastered by the law of gravitation.

"I take the same piece of lead, attach it to a piece of wood and drop it into the pool.  Now it floats.  No change has taken place in the nature or tendency of the lead, nor has the law of gravitation ceased to function, but through its union with the wood, it has been mastered by a stronger law, the law of floating bodies, and has been emancipated from the downward pull of gravitation.

"In our natural [i.e., fallen] state, we are mastered by the law of sin and death.  We are at the mercy of its downward pull.  But after regeneration, by virtue of our union with Christ and the indwelling of His Spirit, the irresistible 'law of the Spirit of life' is on our side, and we are now no longer captives under the tyranny of the law of sin and death.

"This potential freedom becomes actual when it is appropriated by faith.  The formula which brings this powerful law into the field of our need is given by Paul:  'Reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin'--because our old sinful self was crucified with Christ--'and alive unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ.'

"Our union with Christ in His death and resurrection renders us dead to the old law and alive to the new, emancipating law of the Spirit.  The moment of appropriation becomes the moment of realization.

"This emancipation from the power of sin is not a gradual process.  On one occasion Canon W. Hay Aitken had been preaching a strong sermon on the possibilities of deliverance from the power of sin.  As he came out of the church, a young Christian was introduced to him, and they fell into conversation.

"'Mr. Aitken, if I could only believe that that was God's method,' he said, 'I should endeavour to stir my faith to the acceptance of it, but I cannot see that it is God's truth."

"'Well, what do you think is God's truth?'

"'It seems to me that God's way is to gradually deliver us from our sins.  In the process of our experience we shall still have to deplore many falls, many shortcomings, many defeats; but we must go on praying and trying, doing our level best and endeavouring to ask God to assist us.  Then we may entertain the hope that, sooner or later, we shall gradually expel bad habits, our falls will be less frequent, our sins not so numerous, and ultimately we shall prove victorious.'

"Mr. Aitken paused a moment and then said, 'Is that your theory about picking pockets?'

"'About what?' said he.

"'About picking pockets.  A pickpocket is converted to God in a London mission.  Do you expect that, after a week's experience, on the following Saturday night he will kneel down by his bedside and say:  "O God, I thank Thee for the great and glorious change that has taken place in my life.  Last week I stole no less than twenty watches and a couple of dozen purses.  This week I have stolen only half a dozen"?

"The young Christian looked rather confused, and Mr. Aitken said, 'No, my friend, what you expect is, "Let him that stole, steal no more".  You expect God to find grace for the thief to enable him to rise above his besetting sin; but, if so, why don't you expect God to find grace for you, who are equally redeemed from all iniquity, to rise above your besetting sin, whatever it may be?  If you do not expect the thief to go on relapsing into dishonesty, why expect that you yourself are to go on falling and relapsing into your besetting sin?'

"This does not mean that relapse into sin becomes impossible, or that sin is eradicated from the nature, but it does mean that bondage to besetting sin is no longer inevitable and inescapable.  The law of the Spirit sets free from the law of sin and death."