Are you living the dead life?

When you think about living the dead life does that cause you to pause a moment?  The question itself sounds contradictory.  If you are reading this Victory Call you are alive, living and breathing, physically alive.  If you have received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you are also spiritually alive.  So where does the dead life come in?  

Romans 6:6-7 "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin."

Romans 6:11a "Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin"

"Is it, reckon yourself to be weak in reference to sin? No, it is lower than that. Is it, reckon yourself to be dying? No, lower still. 'Reckon yourself to be dead (Rom. 6:11) indeed unto sin.' Some believe they are very weak. But what does that imply? That they have some strength. But when a man is dead he has no strength."i

If we live as if we have any life [any of the old wo(man)] at all we are not living the dead life. Are not life and death mutually exclusive? 

The truth, the factual truth, is that our old man is dead.  That is fact, the Bible clearly says so.  If this is so, then why do we continue to struggle with our old nature?  Could it be that it doesn't know it is dead, or perhaps we don't know or believe that part of us is dead?  Don't we live out in our reality what feels true rather than what is true?  

"We must act on the fact that we are dead in reference to sin. We shall not then speak of difficulty as to resisting temptation in reference to ourselves. We shall take the lowest place, and say it is impossible."ii

When we are tempted, our old man doesn't feel dead, it feels very much alive.  When we begin to consider or toy with the temptation, at that moment we are living in unbelief.  We are living as if God's word is not true.  

Sister, let us reckon ourselves to be dead indeed to sin and start living the dead life.

Diane

i Miles Stanford, The Complete Green Letters, page 42

ii ibid