April 10: Romans 6:6 — A Decision That Changes Everything (Today's Reflection from My Utmost For His Highest)
— A Decision That Changes Everything —
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers
Oswald Chambers does not soften Paul’s words in Romans 6:6. He does not treat sin as something to manage, restrain, or gradually improve. He speaks of it the way Paul does — as something that must die. Not negotiated with. Not reshaped. Not disciplined into better behavior. Crucified.
Chambers asks a direct question: Has the decision ever been made that sin must die — not be controlled, but crucified with Christ? This is not a slow drift toward better habits. It is a deliberate moral decision before God.
Paul is not describing a future ideal or a theological concept. He is describing a real, definite moment in his own life when he agreed with God’s verdict about the old self — the whole self. A moment when he stopped trying to manage it and allowed it to be identified with Christ’s death.
A Deliberate Choice in God’s Presence
Chambers emphasizes that this decision cannot be made casually or in passing. It requires time alone with God — a quiet, intentional moment when the believer comes before Him in prayer and accepts the cup placed before them, just as Jesus did in Gethsemane.
This is not about speaking certain words out loud. It is about laying down the will before God — the entire will, not pieces of it.
A believer comes to Him in honest surrender and says: “Lord, I yield my will to You. Let the old self be crucified with Christ.”
This surrender is the whole person brought before God — the inner life, the hidden life, the conscious and unconscious life — all yielded to Christ’s authority. It is the relinquishing of control, the humbling of the entire being before His throne.
This is a deliberate choice made in God’s presence — a choice to place the whole life under Christ’s rule. And once that choice is made, God Himself supplies the power. The believer yields; God acts. The believer agrees; God brings it to pass.
The Spirit’s Searching Work
The Spirit then begins the searching work — revealing what resists God, exposing what belongs to the old self, and guiding the believer into a new way of living. This is not about identifying “parts” or naming individual issues. We cannot see the full depth of our own hearts. Much of what resists God lies beneath our awareness.
This requires a surrendered posture — a willingness for the whole being to be searched, corrected, and brought under Christ’s rule.
Christ works in the depths of the person — in the places beyond understanding, memory, or control — bringing healing, order, and new life. He restores what is broken and forms the life of Jesus within us.
How God accomplishes this work is unknown, but Scripture is clear: what is surrendered to God does not remain under the rule of the old self.
Chambers’ Challenge
Chambers asks whether we are willing to let the Spirit search us deeply enough to bring us to agreement — the point where we say, “Yes, Lord. The old self must go to the Cross.”
Only then can we say with Paul: “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me...” (Galatians 2:20)
This is surrender — the whole life yielded to Christ. Where the old self once ruled, Christ now reigns. The believer agrees with God’s verdict, and God brings the new life to pass.
The decision is ours. The power is His. The outcome is freedom.
Prayer
Lord, I agree with You — sin must die, self must die, and my will must bow. I bring my will before You and lay it down at the Cross of Christ. I hold nothing back. I defend nothing. I yield everything.
Search me, Lord, and expose every place where sin, self, and will have ruled — even the hidden places, the unconscious places, the places I cannot name. I confess it, and I place it under the Cross.
I surrender my whole being to You — all that I am, all that I know, and all that is beyond my knowing. Let everything in me that is not of Christ be crucified with Him and never rise again.
Take Your rightful place in me. Fill the space where sin, self, and will once ruled. Let Your Spirit govern my life.
I want the life of Jesus to be the life I live.
My will is Yours, O Lord. I yield. I submit. I belong to You. You have full authority over this life.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Inhale: My whole being bows.
Exhale: Wholly Yours.
I bow my will to Christ and agree with His verdict:
~ Quil
Scripture References:
“Sin must die — not be controlled, but crucified with Christ.”
Romans 6:6 — our old self was crucified with Him.
Romans 8:13 — by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body.
Colossians 3:5 — put to death what is earthly in you.“Paul is describing a real, definite moment when he agreed with God’s verdict about the old self.”
Romans 6:11 — reckon yourselves dead to sin.
Romans 7:24–25 — deliverance through Jesus Christ.
Galatians 5:24 — those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh.“This decision requires time alone with God — a quiet, intentional moment.”
Matthew 6:6 — go into your room and pray to your Father in secret.
Mark 1:35 — Jesus went to a solitary place to pray.
Luke 22:41–42 — Jesus surrendered His will in Gethsemane.“It is about laying down the will before God.”
Luke 9:23 — deny yourself and take up your cross.
James 4:7 — submit yourselves to God.
Romans 12:1 — present your bodies as a living sacrifice.“This is not something a person can accomplish by effort or determination.”
John 15:5 — apart from Me you can do nothing.
Philippians 2:13 — God works in you to will and to act.
Ephesians 2:8–9 — salvation is not of works.“Once that choice is made, God Himself supplies the power.”
2 Peter 1:3 — His divine power has given us everything we need.
Ephesians 3:20 — He works in us with His power.
Philippians 4:13 — strength through Christ.“The Spirit begins the searching work — revealing what must go.”
Psalm 139:23–24 — search me, O God.
John 16:8 — the Spirit convicts.
Galatians 5:17 — the Spirit opposes the flesh.“What is surrendered to God does not remain under the rule of the old self.”
Romans 6:14 — sin shall not have dominion over you.
Romans 8:2 — the law of the Spirit sets you free.
2 Corinthians 5:17 — the old has passed away.“Only then can we say with Paul: I am crucified with Christ…”
Galatians 2:20 — I am crucified with Christ; Christ lives in me.
Romans 8:10 — Christ is in you.
Colossians 3:3 — your life is hidden with Christ in God.“The outcome is freedom.”
John 8:36 — if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.
Romans 8:21 — the glorious freedom of God’s children.
Galatians 5:1 — it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
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