Notice carefully the two entities mentioned in the above verse. One entity is "our old self." The other entity is "our body of sin."

The old self is to be crucified with Jesus. The body of sin is to be done away with.

The purpose of crucifying our old self and doing away with our body of sin is that "we should no longer be slaves to sin."

Slaves of sin! Whoever sins is the slave to sin!

How can we avoid being a slave of sin if sin is not defined? As soon as we define what sin is we are into what popularly is termed "legalism."

Is attending X-rated movies sinful or not? What does the Bible say? The Bible says the immoral have their place in the Lake of Fire.

Yes, any behavior that in any manner participates in or endorses sexual behavior not in the confines of marriage is sinful according to the New Testament.

Is preoccupation with professional football sinful? Yes, it is. The Bible commands us to be not conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our mind.

Is cursing and filthy language sinful? Yes, it is. The Bible commands us to say that which will build up the hearers, even avoiding coarse jesting.

These behaviors are sinful. Whoever practices them is the slave of sin. Today we justify such behaviors claiming that eternal life is an unmerited gift operating independently of our conduct. But this is not what the Bible teaches. It is this misunderstanding of the Divine salvation that is making our nation a moral cesspool. The Christian churches are not bearing a true witness of God, His Person and His ways!

Our old self is crucified that the body of sin might be done away, the purpose being that we might be set free from slavery to sin.

We can get nowhere at all in God until we are willing to count ourselves crucified with Christ. The reason our entire adamic personality is crucified with Christ is that the Holy Spirit may be able to destroy the "body of sin" that resides in our first nature. The Spirit can't get at that snake until our personality is hanging on the cross.

As long as we remain "alive" we will protect the sin that dwells in us. Adam is hopelessly intertwined with his own worldliness, lust, and self-seeking.

There is some human good in our adamic nature but no good at all in our body of sin. However, the adamic nature was not formed from eternal substance but from red clay. Our adamic nature has served as a sponge to collect sin. Now we are to crucify the sponge and the sin with it so that the holy, pure Divine Nature of Jesus Christ may take its place. This is eternal life and the born- again experience.

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (Galatians 5:25)

Neat, huh?