With Whom Do You Associate?

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. —1 Peter 2:24

Jesus bare your sins in His body on the tree. He did not go to the cross for His sins because He never sinned. He took your place; He was made your sin; He was made the curse so He could re-create you and give you His place in life. You now can live dead to sin and alive to righteousness, dead to the old man lifestyle, alive to the new man lifestyle—dead to sickness and alive to health, dead to lack and alive to prosperity, dead to the curse and alive to the blessings of God. He has equipped you and enabled you to say “no!” You can say “no” to sin, fear, worry, sickness, and the entire curse, because you are now a new man—you have been redeemed from the curse (Galatians 3:13). You can now associate and identify with either the sinner or the saint, either the old man or the new man. You can believe either in what Jesus’s suffering and death paid for, or in what your own performance can do. When sin comes—I am dead to that! When a symptom comes—I am free from that! When I am tempted to get discouraged and down, that is the old man, trying to resurrect himself in my life—but he is dead! I am now alive to my right relationship with God—alive to health, alive to holiness, alive to being a new creation. I resist the old-man habits and claim my new identity in Christ. I am righteous, and I am healed!

Pastor Tom Kehres

Keep Him Dead!

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. —1 Corinthians 6:9–11, emphasis added

You may have been a sinner, you may have been an alcoholic, you may have been a drug addict, you may have been a thief, or you may have been involved in sexual sin, but such were some of you. You are no longer the old person. The crucifixion killed what you were. You are not a saved alcoholic; the alcoholic died! You are not a recovering drug addict; the drug addict is dead! You are no longer an angry man, an insecure man, a depressed man—you were, but now you are a new man, washed! Sanctified! Justified! Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! You do not have to fight and struggle with old sin habits. You do not have to try to overcome your faults. They are no longer your faults—they were the old man’s faults, the old man’s sin habits, and he is crucified. Whatever you claim to be, you will have to fight against. If you claim to be angry, you will have to fight anger. If you claim to be a sinner, you will have to fight to overcome sin. There is nothing you can do to overcome sin, but you can believe that He already overcame sin for you. I am not a sinner, but a righteous person by the Blood. I am no longer dirty and filthy, but washed and made whole. Do not think on what you were, but meditate on who you are, and the old man will stay crucified!

Pastor Tom Kehres

He’s Finished!

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him. —Romans 6:6

Jesus went to the cross to die for you. At the same time that He died, your old man was crucified. The sinner and the failure you became through Adam’s sin in the Garden had to be put to death, so thatyou could be re-created in the image of Christ. God created man in His image and after His likeness (Genesis 1:26), and His plan for man has never changed. Through an act of faith, not only did Jesus die on the cross, but He also took every old man and crucified them all with Him. When He died, you died; when He was buried, the old man was buried; when He rose, you rose; and when He was seated in heavenly places, the new you was seated with Him, in Him. Notice the key to living and walking in the revelation: know that your old man is crucified with him—not he will be crucified, not he was crucified, but he is! You must have a present-tense knowledge of the old you as dead and the new you as alive! Your old man was not washed up, cleaned up, or cleansed from sin—no! He was put to death once and for all. You must meditate on this fact—see your old man on the cross, see him dead, see him buried forever. He was not washed in baptism; he was drowned in baptism. You no longer have to yield to sin; you are free from it (Romans 6:6–7). You can now live with Christ (Romans 6:8).

Pastor Tom Kehres

I Reckon

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. —Romans 6:11

You are told to reckon, consider, or believe yourself to be dead to sin. Notice—you are not dying to sin, struggling with sin, or fighting against sin—you are dead to sin. I’m going to reckon myself dead to anger, dead to impatience, dead to worry, dead to all sin! I am not an angry man trying to overcome anger—the old, angry man is dead and gone, crucified and buried with Christ. I’m going to reckon myself dead to anger. How am I going to do this? I’m going to reckon myself alive to God! I am alive to a righteous man; alive to a holy man; alive to living sin-free! I am dead to sickness and alive to health. I am dead to lack and alive to abundance. I am dead to sin and evil, and I am alive to goodness and God. It is up to you! You can reckon yourself to be dead to and alive to whatever you choose. Many consider themselves alive to sin, alive to the old man—“just a sinner saved by grace.” If you do, you will live like a sinner. Sin will stay alive in your life. Reckon yourself alive to your new nature, alive to new resurrection life, alive to a Christ-kind of life. What you reckon or think on, you will become! Reckon yourself alive to God through Jesus Christ.

Pastor Tom Kehres