1. 1 Peter 2:24 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does “die to sin” mean?

1 Peter 2:24 (ESV)

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

The word that Peter uses here in fact means to “cease” from sin, to put distance between oneself and sin. The “sin” Peter refers to is the mistake the slave made that triggered his unjust suffering at the hand of his master. Peter’s point is that because of Jesus’ suffering on the cross the slave can put distance between himself and his mistake (human as it is to err) so that he is not burdened by guilt as he languishes in prison (Genesis 39:20) or groans under the pain of the master’s beatings (Exodus 1:11, Exodus 1:13).