Who His own self bare our sins in His body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness.
—1 Peter 2:24
Here in the epistle of Peter we have the same lessons that Paul taught us. First is the atonement of the cross: “Who His own self bare our sins in His body upon the tree.” And then comes the fellowship of the cross: “That we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness.”
In this last expression, we have the great thought that a Christian cannot live to righteousness unless he knows that he has died to sin. We need the Holy Spirit to make our death to sin such a reality that we know we are forever free from its power and will therefore yield our “members as instruments of righteousness unto God” (Romans 6:13).
Dear Christian, it cost Christ much to bear the cross and then to yield Himself so that it could bear Him. It cost Him much when He cried, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour” (John 12:27).
Let us not imagine that the fellowship of the cross—concerning which Peter wrote the words, “That we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness”—is easily understood or experienced. It means that the Holy Spirit will teach us what it is to be identified with Christ in His cross. It means that we realize by faith how we truly shared with Christ in His death, and now, as He lives in us, we abide in unceasing fellowship with Him, the Crucified One. This costs self‑sacrifice; it costs earnest prayer; it costs a wholehearted surrender to God, to His will, and to the cross of Jesus; it costs abiding in Christ and having unceasing fellowship with Him.
Blessed Lord, reveal to us each day through the Holy Spirit the secret of our lives in You. Let Your Spirit reveal to us that as truly as we died in You, You now live in us the life that was crucified and now is glorified in heaven. Having died to sin, and being forever set free from its dominion, let us know that sin can no more reign over us or have dominion. (See Romans 6:14.) In the power of Your redemption, let us yield ourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, ready and prepared for all His will.