How Grace Helps You Defeat Sin and Walk Worthy

Have you ever wondered why seven-step programs, rules, and principles don’t work to truly defeat sin or truly change someone? Sure, there are people who go through rehab or “turn their life around,” but behavior modification without a changed heart is not the same thing as true transformation and leads to a transfer of that same sinful behavior to a more “socially acceptable” domain. It’s merely a swapping of a new idol upon the proverbial altar.

The failure of rules-based living, that is, legalism, is that it only shows us where we fall short. In our flesh, we will eventually fail. The Bible attests to this same truth about the law: it was a schoolmaster to show us our shortcomings and it brings about the knowledge of sin (Gal 3:24, Rom 3:20). Just as a mirror or scale doesn’t fix bad eating habits, knowing where we fall short from God’s law doesn’t fix our sin; it just identifies that we are indeed sinners.

The Apostle Paul had this same struggle in Romans 7:15-18, where he articulates the very battle we all have in the flesh: I don’t do what I should do, and I do what I hate. The will and desire to do good exists, but how to actually perform the good isn’t there. But in Christ, we are not hopeless.

As Christians, we are often guilty of recognizing that we are saved by grace through faith alone in the finished cross-work of Christ, but then trying to walk in rules, laws, and regulations after being saved. This is the very problem the Galatians had, trying to prove their own righteousness by good deeds and living under the law after being saved by grace (Gal 3:1-3). Paul rebukes them directly:

“Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”

If we were saved by grace through faith, why would we try to walk by the flesh through the very rules-based system that condemned us in the first place?

Now, to be clear, grace does not teach unrighteousness. Scripture draws clear lines about what constitutes sin, and those lines are real (Titus 2:11-14), but they pierce deeper than just actions themselves and what we see on the outside. The problem is not with knowing right from wrong; the problem is that knowing right from wrong, by itself, does not change us. Every one of us has experienced this. Oftentimes, we know what we should do, and we still fall short, because personal willpower and rule-keeping cannot overcome the flesh. What we need is a changed mind and heart rooted in God’s love and the power of Christ’s cross. When that transformation takes root, doing good and abstaining from sin become the natural spiritual fruit of a life that understands grace, not the forced product of self-effort.

The Real Problem: We Forget Who We Are

So if the law can’t fix sin, what can? A clear understanding of grace, specifically, what happened to us by the cross. This is the teaching of Romans 6, where Paul explains that the answer to sin is not rule-keeping but a reckoning of what Christ has already accomplished in us.

While we won’t stop sinning completely until we die and meet the Lord in glory, we are not victims of sin anymore. If you are saved by God’s grace, you have the Holy Spirit living in your inner man (Eph 1:13-14, 1Co 6:19, Rom 5:5). The same God that created the universe, parted the Red Sea, walked on water, and rose from the dead lives in us! The question is not whether we have the power to overcome in Christ (we do), but whether we understand and believe what God has done and continues to do in us.

Dead to Sin: What the Cross Did to Your Old Man

Romans 6:3-7 reveals one of the most important truths that most Christians either don’t know or often forget. When you trusted the gospel of Christ (Rom 3:21-26, 1Co 15:1-4), you were spiritually baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ’s death and resurrection (1Co 12:13, Eph 4:5, Col 2:10-14). Your old man, your identity in Adam, the person defined and condemned by sin, was crucified with Christ.

“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. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” - Romans 6:6-7

This is not metaphorical language. The old you is dead. Your identification with Christ’s death means that the sins which once defined and condemned you no longer have dominion over you (Gal 2:19-21, 6:14-15). It was necessary for our old man to die so that we are no longer condemned by the law, for “he that is dead is freed from sin” (Rom 7:4, 1Co 15:55-58, Col 2:11-15). We are freed from sin’s penalty (Rom 3), imputation (Rom 4), curse (Rom 5), dominion and power (Rom 6), law (Rom 7), and condemnation (Rom 8). These are spiritual realities in Christ meant to renew our minds and practically transform our walks (Gal 5:1, Col 1:13-14, Titus 2:14).

Alive in Christ: Resurrection Power at Work in You

But we are not just dead to the old. We are alive to something far greater. Paul continues:

“Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him” – Romans 6:8-9

Christ has conquered death, and because He lives, we also live. This is not only a future promise of bodily resurrection (1Co 15:12-23, 42-57, Php 3:20-21, 1Th 4:16-18), but a present spiritual reality. We are now quickened, made spiritually alive, regenerated by the Spirit that dwells in us (Rom 8:10-11, Eph 2:1, 5, Titus 3:4-7, Col 2:13). We don’t just wait for a future hope of eternal life; we can walk in the newness of Christ’s life right now.

“For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God” - Romans 6:10

Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross was sufficient to forgive all of our sins: past, present, and future. He died once for all. All of your sins are forgiven (past tense) the moment you trust in the gospel of grace (Eph 1:7, 4:32, Col 1:14, 2:13-14). And because He lives, Jesus is our life, and our life is hid with Christ in God (Col 3:3-4). He conquered the power of death and the fear of it so that we can live through Him (Heb 2:14-15, 1Co 15:54-57).

Reckoning: The First Step to Walking Worthy

All of this leads to one of the most important instructions for believers:

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

This word “reckon” means to count, to reason and conclude from the evidence. It is faith in what God has said about you. Paul is not telling us to make ourselves dead to sin by trying harder. He is telling us to count it as already done because it is. Just as Christ died and rose again, so have you been planted together in the likeness of His death and resurrection (Rom 6:3-5). The work is finished. The reckoning is our faith response to that finished work.

This is the critical first step in walking worthy: understanding and trusting who you are and what Christ accomplished for you at the cross. Without this reckoning, the Christian life inevitably becomes self-righteous self-effort and religious rule-keeping, the very legalism that Paul warned the Galatians about. It’s so much deeper than just “Do this and don’t do that.” When you reckon yourself dead to sin, you are acknowledging that sin’s power, bondage, and condemnation have been destroyed. It’s not that you’ll never sin again, nor does it mean “stop doing bad things” (even though you should). It is a recognition of who you are and the state you are in: delivered from sin’s dominion and condemnation by the cross of Christ (Gal 6:14, Rom 8:1-6).

And when you reckon yourself alive unto God through Jesus Christ, you are embracing your new identity and purpose. You are a new creature (2Co 5:17). You are no longer defined by Adam or the flesh, but by Christ and His Spirit. This is your new life, and it changes everything about how you approach sin, temptation, and the Christian walk.

The Blueprint: Ephesians 4:20-24

With this foundation of reckoning in place, Ephesians 4:20-24 gives us a practical blueprint for the process of walking worthy. Contrary to just laying down a list of rules, these three truths show the process of change under grace, which doesn’t concern your works but rather a realization of who you already are, leading to a transformed heart and mind that produces change. This is why the things we should and should not do as Christians come directly AFTER this passage, because it’s the quintessential foundation for everything else.

“But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” – Ephesians 4:20-24

1) Put Off the Old Man – After trusting the gospel, your old man (your identity in Adam and sin) was crucified with Christ. All of the sins that used to define and condemn you are dealt with. Grace kills the sinner and the power of sin over you (Rom 6:1-11, Gal 2:19-21). When you realize you are no longer a slave to your flesh, that you are dead to sin, it changes your entire disposition about the spiritual battle we fight. Putting off the old man begins with reckoning: counting yourself dead indeed unto sin because of the cross.

2) Renew Your Mind – When you put off the old man, you’re going to face an identity crisis. Who are you? Are you identified by the flesh, the old man, and what you’ve done, or by the Spirit and the new man? To be transformed, we need a renewed mind about who we are, what we should do, where we are going, and why, and this only comes from God’s word (Rom 12:1-2, 1Co 2:15-16, 2Co 4:16-18, Titus 3:5-7). We forget these realities every day, which is why we need to continually remind ourselves through God’s word of all that Christ has done for us and all that He has made us to be. Prayer, and the subsequent peace of God it brings, helps to keep our hearts and minds through Christ in these truths so that we continually reckon these things to be so (Php 4:6-7).

3) Put On the New Man – Another reality of trusting the gospel is that our spirit is made alive and we are created a new creature in Christ. Putting on the new man concerns recognizing who you already are as a member of His Body. You are currently redeemed, justified, sanctified, and given a heavenly calling far greater than anything this world has to offer. When we understand our purpose in Christ as defined in the Bible and taste the far superior fruits of righteousness produced by the Spirit that dwells in us, the desires of our flesh are greatly diminished (Eph 2:10, 15, Col 3:9-11, Rom 8:29, Gal 5:16-18, 6:8). This is reckoning yourself alive unto God, putting on the new man by faith in who Christ has made you to be.

A Lifelong Battle of Faith

We are dead and alive because of Christ, yet we so often forget who we are by the grace of Jesus and what we were saved to do. We have two natures that want control, and we must actively put off the old and put on the new (Gal 5:16-17, Eph 4:21-24, Col 3:9-10). Whenever we struggle with sin in our flesh, we must reckon ourselves dead to sin, remind ourselves that it has no dominion over us, and remember we are alive in Christ. We can choose to walk in life now, and know how sweet it is. We have the power of Christ to overcome and don’t have to give provision to the flesh to obey its sinful lusts (Php 4:13, Rom 13:14)!

This is a lifelong battle of faith in our reality in Christ that requires our active participation. The law can’t fix sin, but a clear understanding of grace can because it attacks the sin problem at the root: the inner man. It changes your mind about sin and about who you are in Christ. It enlightens our eyes to what we should do after salvation as members of Christ’s body to serve God properly. It provides the will and strength to perform good and abstain from evil that our flesh and the law can’t do. Grace isn’t a list of things to do to try to earn God’s favor; it’s a free gift of life and the completed work of Christ in you received by faith alone.

I pray this week that you would reckon yourselves dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. May you renew your mind through His word, and may you further understand the depths of His grace through the knowledge of who you already are in Christ. Let us not forget: we have victory over death and sin through Christ (1Co 15:55-57)!