“Do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts…For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:12,14)

Is it true that man can live without sin? “When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness” (Rom. 6:20. We all know what that means. Our past experience is not pleasant to look over. Why was it that we were free from righteousness?- because we were the servants of Satan. “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness” (v.22).

In all our Christian experience we have left little loopholes here and there for sin. We have never dared to come to that place where we would believe that the Christian life should be a sinless life. We have not dared to believe it or preach it. But in that case we cannot preach the law of God fully. Why not? Because we do not understand the power of justification by faith. Without justification by faith it is impossible to preach the law of God to the fullest extent. To preach justification by faith does not detract from or lower the law of God, but it is the only thing that exalts it. If a Christian is committing sin part of the time and doing righteousness the rest of the time, it must be that Satan and Christ are in partnership. But there is no consort between light and darkness, between Christ and Belial. They are in deadly antagonism, even to the death.

Now the question comes: how am I going to become a servant of Christ, so I will be able to die to my old life? “To whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey” (vs. 16). The moment I yield myself to Christ, that moment I am His slave. How do I know that Christ will accept my service if I do not give it to Him? Because He has bought that service and paid the price for it.

Waggoner, General Conference Bulletin, 1891, No. 10