Sin has lost its dominion because it’s no longer inside you. You had the nature of sin but Jesus your Savior came into your life and gave you His righteousness and you, the spirit, were raised from the dead to new life. Resurrection life! The same life that raised Jesus from the dead. Sin is on the outside. It’s still available to you if you choose it, but it no longer has dominion. It’s not your nature. For it to have place in your life after you’ve been born again, you have to give it permission—you have to allow it.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity [weakness] of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness (Romans 6:12-19).

Even though we are born again, when we yield ourselves to the devil and follow after sin, we are serving him, not God. Whether a servant of sin unto death or a servant of obedience unto righteousness, we yield ourselves to the one we are serving. We reap the harvest of the one we serve—a harvest of life or of death.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

The old man of sin (the real man, the spirit) has already been crucified with the result that sin in the body can be overthrown. We need not sin or serve sin.

For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:7-11).

We are to consider ourselves dead to sin and our relation to it broken. We are to consider ourselves alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. If you will live unto God and set your attention on Him, there is a fountain of life inside you that will flow out to permeate your mind, your body and your surroundings with God!

But if instead you live unto the world and unto sin, you will be dominated by death and defeat. It is not enough just to see ourselves dead to sin. We must see ourselves alive unto God.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in
all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou
ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou
mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy
fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast
ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him?
and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

For thou hast made him a little lower
than the angels (Hebrew: “God”), and hast
crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest
him to have dominion over the works of thy hands;
thou hast put all things under his feet (Psalm 8:1-6).

This is the Bible definition of honor. God has
given us honor and dominion over the things
that are His.

The Honor of Jesus’ Name

But God has honored us in an even
more important way: He has given us the
honor of His Son, Jesus. And Jesus honored us
even more by giving us the use and
authority of His Name.

After Jesus was raised from the dead
He said to His disciples: “All power, all
authority, has been given unto Me both
in heaven and in earth. Therefore, you go
into all the earth. Take My Name and cast
out Satan. Lay hands on the sick, and they
will recover. Do it in My Name”
(Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 16:15-18).

Jesus gave us authority and dominion
over Satan, sickness and disease.
He also gave us authority over spiritual
communication. We have every right to
pray in the spirit.

What did He do? He honored the Church
with His Name, His blood, His covenant
with God. He gave us dominion over all
the forces of darkness because He gave us His Name.

With what else could He honor us?
What more could we possibly want or need?
Eternal life? He has honored us with everlasting
life when we were born again (John 3:16).

His presence? He promised never to leave
us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). His own person?
He made us bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh,
spirit of His Spirit (Ephesians 5:30; 1 Corinthians 6:17).
His love? He loved us so much that He gave Himself for
us (Titus 2:14). You cannot honor a person any more
than by giving your whole self.

Crowned With Honor

O Lord our Lord, how excellent is
thy name in all the earth!…hast
thou ordained strength…. and hast
crowned him with glory and honour
(Psalm 8:1-2, 5).

Crowned with glory and honor.
Here the psalmist is talking about praise,
power and dominion, about the Name of God
and His glory. “How excellent is Your Name.
How powerful is Your Name.
How filled with authority is Your Name.”

He is talking, too, about God having given
man dominion over all the works of His hands.
Isn’t that an honor? Certainly. It is an honor
that could have come only from God.
He’s the only One with the authority to
give dominion over what belonged to Him.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries