By Theodore Epp

      Romans 6:11-14

      Reckoning is based on absolute truth. We are not called upon to reckon something to be true that is not really true.

      It is true that Christ died for us and that when we believed in Him as Saviour, we died with Him. That's a fact. In that He lives, we also live. That's a fact.

      So reckoning is based on facts, not on experience. I do not reckon myself to be dead to sin because I feel dead. I don't reckon myself to be alive to God because I feel alive.

      Experience is important in its place, but it does not determine truth. But knowing what is true, we must reckon it to be true, and then the proper experience will follow.

      Perhaps you say, "But I failed Him after I reckoned on the fact that I had died to sin; therefore, I must not be dead to sin." No, it is still a fact.

      Even when a believer does not behave as though he were dead to sin and alive to God, these are still accomplished facts. That is what salvation is all about. Being born again means we have passed from death to life.

      Our identification with Christ in His death is not progressive; that is, we do not die a little bit at a time. Our understanding of the significance of our identification with Him may come gradually, but the fact of our death with Him has been accomplished once for all.

      Also, we do not become alive to God a little bit at a time; that, too, is once for all. We passed from death to life the moment we believed (John 5:24) and are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light (Col. 1:13).

      We need to take God at His word concerning these accomplished facts.

      "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. 6:14).