November 13

Read: Romans 6:3-6

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin (Romans 6:6).

That Sin Might Be Destroyed

Shall Christians continue in bondage to inbred sin? The Bible answer rings out strong and clear, “God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (v. 2). “We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin” (v. 6, R.S.V.).

The figures of speech, “our old man” and “the body of sin,” refer to the carnal mind, the sinful nature inherited as the result of Adam’s fall. As surely as Christ was crucified on the Cross and died, just so surely is carnality to be crucified and destroyed. And it was our Lord’s atoning death that makes our sanctification possible. “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate” (Hebrews 13:12).

This emphasis in the Bible upon the destruction of sin is the basis for the Wesleyan teaching of the eradication of carnality. Eradication is not a Bible term but the teaching has abundant support in God’s Word. In answer to those who believe that God proposes only to repress carnality, Dr. Daniel Steele has noted that there are many Greek words describing repression. Ten or more of them are used in the New Testament. They are translated to bind, bruise, cast down, bring into bondage, repress, hinder, restrain, subdue, take by the throat. Yet none of these terms is ever used of inbred An. The words used in relation to carnality are to cleanse, to purify, to mortify, to kill, to crucify, and to destroy.

Entire sanctification is God’s provision to deal with carnality. The Bible speaks of destroying “the body of sin.” Is eradication too strong a word for that?