Month: August 2021

For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. Romans 6:5

A conditional statement communicates the certainty of the result, provided the condition is met.

Paul tells us the condition is that we have been (in the past) united with Jesus in a death like (not the exact same death) his. The result is a certain future ( ‘shall certainly be’) where with him in a resurrection like (not the same resurrection) his.

First, there is a past union with Christ in a ‘death like His.’ Our death is like His death because it is a death to sin, just as his was. It is unlike His because we did not die physically as He did.

If this union takes place, if we die to sin in Christ, we can be certain of the result. Namely, we will be united in a resurrection like His. It will be like his because we will rise from the dead with sinless bodies. It will be unlike His because ours is the result where His was the cause.

So, the Christian is certain of two things (from this verse). One is the past death to sin, and the other is the future resurrection. But what about now?

Now, we live in between these two anchors. Now, we recognize our deadness to sin as we gaze at the promised life eternal. And the promise is so certain, we can bank on it. we can act as if it were already here, in a way. We can “put on” (to quote another Paulism) the traits of that perfected person we will someday be.

Because, you see, the process has already started when you died with Christ. Nothing is more certain than that Jesus will finish what He started.

See other Romans 6 Posts

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:3-4

This comes after the previous question posed by Paul where he asks if we should continue in sin so that God’s grace may abound. The answer he gave to that question was (to paraphrase), ‘absolutely not that would be insane because we are dead to sin!’

But how exactly are believers dead to sin? What happened to make that true? That is what he touches on here.

He uses the word baptism to describe the believers connection to Jesus. Baptism, the practice of submerging someone under water and bringing them up again, is a Christian symbol that communicates how a sinner has been reborn into Christ.

Paul is saying here, by use of the analogy of baptism, that sinners who have been spiritually submerged into Jesus Christ are so closely united with Him that they share his death.

If we share in Christ’s death through this union with Him, we also share in His new life.

The point here is that we are only able to say ‘no’ to sin because Jesus died, and we died with Him. We can only say ‘yes’ to righteousness because Jesus rose, and we rose with Him. We have no power, will, or strength in ourselves to please God. It only comes through the union with Christ.

And how are we united to Christ? Paul answered this in the previous chapters: only by the grace of God that He gives to those who believe (have faith) in Jesus. By grace, through faith.

It is worth pondering for some time, Christian, that in a very real sense you have died. You share in the death of Jesus through the grace/faith union you have with Him. You also share in His life since He was raised from the dead.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who have died to sin still live in it? Romans 6:1-2

Imagine you were in debt, the kind of debt you could never pay off in your life time. Then, a wealthy benefactor comes from out of nowhere and gives you enough money to not only pay off all your debt, but it so far exceeds the debt, that it will never run out no matter how much you spend.

You have gone from the most extreme poverty, to the most extreme wealth in a moment.

The great thing now is that you can go back into debt, and have enough money to pay off that debt! You can max out all the credit cards you want, and still have enough to pay them off again.

Of course, that would be ridiculous wouldn’t it? You have no need to go into debt ever again, there is no advantage to going into debt again. Simply use the new riches you now have. In a way, you would have died to debt. Having so much wealth at your disposal makes it practically impossible to be in debt, because you can pay it off at any moment.

This is an analogy for the Christian who is freed from sin, who has the infinite grace and mercy of God covering him. If God forgives all our sin, why not continue in the sin so that God’s grace can overflow?

But, if we are in Christ, we have died to sin like the poor person died to debt. There is no way to continue living the life of sin once you are in Christ. All you are doing is pretending to continue in sin, like the newly wealthy person insanely pretends to go back into debt.

There is no reason to be someone you are not. You cannot be dead if you are alive. There is no reason to seek out the rush of sin when you have the joy of Christ.