Romans 6:11

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Romans 6:11 ESV

I had planned on moving into verse 12, but God really laid on my heart to dig a little deeper into verse 11, so that's where we will be for this post!

In verse 11, Paul transitioned from what has happened in us to how we are to respond as God's children. He introduced this transition with the phrase: "so you also must consider..." This is not an option, but a command. What is it that we are commanded to do? So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Two questions that might come to mind:

Question 1: Why are we commanded to do this? Because we are joined with Christ as one (as Paul explained in the previous verses), we have been brought into a holy communion with God, who lives in us through the Holy Spirit. Just think, anything we do, anything we see, anything we partake of...God is right there with us...are there things we do that we would rather God not see? Are there things we do that we know God would not partake of? We are forever justified by the righteousness of our Savior, but that doesn't mean God doesn't see our sinful thoughts and actions...He is right there with us, in us, all day everyday...are we showing Him how much we love Him by how we think and act daily?

Never forget the fact that every sin we have committed, are committing, and will commit, is the reason God crushed His Son physically. These sins are the reason God looked at His perfect Son as an ugly curse on a tree, completely separating Himself from His Son spiritually.  Never forget the absolute pain and agony Christ suffered in the midst of that physical brutality and spiritual emptiness, on our behalf, for our sinfulness.

Question 2: So, just how dead to sin are we supposed to be, and how alive to God? I think this is easiest understood this way...since the reason we are supposed consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God is because we are joined together with Christ, who showed us what dying to sin and being alive to God was all about, we ought to look to Him for the answer. As we go about our daily lives, we ought to ask ourselves continually, is this something Christ would find acceptable? Is what I'm thinking or doing showing that I am joined with Christ, that the holy God who has no sin lives in me? Are my thoughts and actions driven by who God is or by self satisfaction and pride? 

We are called to be completely dead to sin, so that we can be completely alive to God. Any sin we haven't let go of hinders our new life, our new relationship with God. By God's grace and mercy, perfect joy and peace have been made available to us, why do we continue to hold on to things that keep us from experiencing these blessings?

I think one of the biggest dangers for any child of God is the deception of perceiving God's view of sin as nonchalant. This plays out in so many ways, and can be so hard to see in our lives, but I know we are all guilty of it. It's so easy to justify our sinful actions with excuses like these:

- God wouldn't really consider that a sin 

- God still loves us no matter what

- Even Jesus hung out with sinners

- God's grace is bigger than my sins

- I'm saved no matter what 

There are obviously many other ways we could word these, and many other excuses like them. However, none of these excuses hold any weight...God's view of sin is absolutely not nonchalant, He views sin as sin, in Him there is no darkness - the biggest sinful action and the slightest sinful thought are both black, ugly stains - unacceptable to a God who is perfectly white and stainless.

Don't forget that Adam and Eve did not fall because they physically murdered someone, or because they committed adultery on each other, but because they disobeyed God...the same God that has commanded us to love Him with all of our heart, mind, and soul...the same God that has commanded us to love our neighbor as our self, to put others before our self...the same God who has commanded us to die to sin and live for Him...have we disobeyed any of these commands?

To sin is to miss the mark, to not live up to the standard set before us (Jesus Christ) - we all do this daily...I don't say this to get us down on ourselves, but to create an awareness, so that we can be responding the way Paul is commanding us to...consider yourselves dead to sin...sin cannot control us or condemn us, Christ has set us free and given us the power to say no to sin - this is a lifelong process as God continues to reveal areas of sin in our lives, but it is possible to continually be moving away from sin and towards God!

I think its important for all of us to spend time pondering our heart...are we living in a way that shows we are dead to sin and living for God? If not, its absolutely crucial that we implore God to address our heart, to make us hungry for Him, so hungry that it changes the way we live!

Romans 6:10,11

For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Romans 6:10,11 ESV

Death and life...the two points that Paul has really been driving home in Romans. As lost people we are a spiritually dead people...the old man that loves and pursues sin, the very sin that separates us from God, has to be put to death in order to be adopted into the family of a holy God...adoption that not only means walking in newness of life - being made spiritually alive, but life eternal!

Being joined with Jesus in His death, we experience the power of God as He regenerates us - He puts the old man to death and raises us to eternal life, joining us with Jesus in His resurrection!

Everything Paul has explained up to this point has been about how God's power takes affect in our lives, what happens to us, not what we do. God causes this death and resurrection in our lives, God causes us to be joined with His Son, God regenerates our souls, through His Son, so that we can be set free from sin - we have no power of ourselves to cause these things to happen.

Now, in verses 10 and 11, we see a transition. Paul continues to speak of Christ's death and life, but he begins to move towards our responsibility for a response - tying everything he has been saying back to the question he started with: "How can we who died to sin still live in it?"

Paul has revealed in different ways how, being joined with Christ, we have died to sin - which he repeats here in verse 10: "For the death he died he died to sin, once for all" Being baptized with Christ in His death, we need to understand that this applies to us...we, too, have died to sin, once for all. The miracle of our old man, with his sinful lusts and desires, being put to death is a death a Christian only experiences once, as we are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. If we have died to sin this way, how can we still live in it? 

Paul isn't saying that we who have died to sin no longer sin...but instead that we who have died to sin should live lives that reveal the miracle of regeneration that has taken place inside of us. Our lives should show that we have been united with Christ in newness of life - a life that is now characterized by longing to know God, desiring God to be glorified in our lives through our obedience to Him and our love for Him and others, moving away from sin and towards God, and when we do sin - conviction and repentance become our response. 

While we still battle, sin no longer has the power to control us or condemn us, and we need to grasp this in order to live confidently in Christ! We can defeat sin! 

Dying to sin means we also live...we are joined with Christ, and Paul says in verse 10: "but the life he lives he lives to God."  We, with Jesus, now live our lives to God...we used to be focused on ourselves, how we could satisfy ourselves - and we can conjure up so many different ways to do this, some seem harmless, some may even seem 'good' in the way they affect people around us - but the truth is, before we are joined to Christ in His death to sin, all of our actions are self serving and rob God of His glory. 

But now, but now....we, with Jesus Christ, live our lives to God - we are free to give all to Him, to serve Him in complete submission, wanting Him to be lifted up in our lives above all else, dying to ourselves daily in order to be used by Him for His glory. Sure, we still struggle with pride and selfishness, those poisons run deep, but we are no longer controlled or condemned by them, we are free to battle them as they are revealed to us...the beautiful power of regeneration means that, in spite of our struggles, our main desire is that God be glorified through us!!

Paul has used these two points in verse 10 as motivators as he transitions to our response. 

1. You, with Christ, have died to sin. 

2. You, with Christ, now live to God. 

"So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (vs 11)

This seems pretty basic, we already know from the previous verses that we are joined with Christ in His death and resurrection, Paul has made it a point to thoroughly drive those points home (though I would argue that we still don't understand the power of this death and resurrection). Yet, here in verse 11, as Paul once again reminds us that we are joined to Christ, there is a small phrase that is so important:  you also must consider... Paul, up to this point, has been describing things that happened to us, by the power, the grace, and the mercy of God, that changed us from who we were to who we are, but that focus has changed with this phrase, this command.

There is an expected response now, from those who have experienced God's power of regeneration in their lives. Paul will go into much more detail about it in the following verses, but it starts with this small command...you must also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. This command is a direct response to the question in verse 2 "How can we who died to sin still live in it" and this command also begins to display how, as God's children, we can live a life that glorifies Him above all else! This should be our sole desire, that drives everything else in our lives!

So, as we get ready to dig throughout these upcoming weeks into how we are to respond to God's grace and mercy in our lives, that have changed us in such a powerful way, start by asking these very important questions:

1. Have I died to sin? Am I convicted when God reveals sin in my life? Do I repent when convicted?
2. Do I now live my life to God? Is God being glorified through me what drives me each day?

Meditate on these questions, pray over them, and allow God to mold you. Then, as we move forward, the response that is expected of God's children won't be work, or a checklist, but acts of love towards the God that set us free from eternal condemnation, giving us eternal life with Him!

Romans 6:9

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
Romans 6:9  ESV

At the end of Chapter 5, Paul explained how the law sheds light on our sinfulness by revealing who we are in perspective to who God is - and follows that by saying that God's grace is revealed more powerfully and more abundantly where sin is revealed. God's grace overcomes sin. Expecting at least some of his readers to wonder - shouldn't we just sin more so that God's grace can be experienced more abundantly? - Paul posed this question - "How can we who have died to sin still live in it?"

Then, in verses 3-8 of chapter 6, we looked in detail at the different ways Paul described what happens when a lost person's heart is regenerated - digging in to what Paul meant when we asked "How can we who have died to sin..." The most important part of this death is that it's not at all about us, but instead it's all about being joined with Christ - in His death and His life.

Now, in verses 9, we will look a little deeper at the authority displayed by Christ's death.

We know that Christ, being raise from the dead, will never die again;

Two points being made that we need to recognize here:
Christ really died - and really came back to life
      - our old man has really died, and we really walk in new life!
Christ will really never die again.
     - this new life we live is based on a relationship with God - also described as eternal life!

Take some time and meditate on what these two points mean. The old man, in all of it's sinful lusts, empty pursuits, and pride driven actions, is really dead - completely powerless to condemn us! We have been raised in new life, with the Holy Spirit now living inside of us, with a desire to seek God's face! Our pursuits can now be pure, and focused around God's kingdom! We now have a peace available to us that is literally indescribable! Then, to top it off, this new life is eternal! It will not end! This bliss of knowing and seeking God personally is something we get to enjoy FOREVER!

If we can begin to grasp the weight of this truth, the joy will begin to build up in our hearts and then overflow into our lives, affecting others in a way that only God can! This joy is a powerful tool against Satan's attacks:

Satan is only effective when we are finding our joy and security in things other than God. 

It's crucial that we come back to these verses, and others like them, that will root our joy and security in God's power, God's work, and God's promises alone!

Paul goes on now to describe the utter power that was displayed through Christ's death. Throughout His life, Jesus revealed His authority over everything we see...over sickness and disease, over food and drink, over animals, over wind and water, and over physical death - calling people to rise. This is the most crucial and powerful statement of authority:

death no longer has dominion over him

We know that death never actually had complete dominion over Jesus (apart from His willful submission to it), in Mathew 26:53 Jesus tells us the Father would have sent 12 legions of angels to deliver Him upon His request...(that wasn't God's will but it was definitely within God's authority to do so). So, what is Paul saying here?

Jesus willingly submitted..taking on our sinfulness, which caused Him to experience true death - separation from God the Father, which He had never known before...and He did it for us.

In Romans 5:12 Paul says this: Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. Spiritual death (separation from God) is brought to existence through sin...sin that God cannot have in His presence. It's this sin that we love and pursue - that keeps us from realizing our lost state, and at the same time causes us so much anxiety, pain, emptiness, and eventually eternal condemnation. It's this very sin, heartache, pain, emptiness, condemnation, and separation that Christ experienced on the cross - for us. 

Paul Washer, in one of his sermons, really put it in perspective...when we read in God's Word the wrath that He will pour out on those who refuse to serve Him (think Old Testament judgement against evil nations and even against a rebelling Israel, think Revelation and the absolute annihilation of the anti-Christ) - when we read these thing realize that this is the wrath that Jesus experienced - crushed and separated from God.

When Jesus took on our sin, God looked down on His Son and instead of perfection saw guilt...our guilt, and poured out the just penalty. How dare we ever complain to God of being treated unfairly as we stand in the shadow of the cross...we ought not utter a sound but to say thank You.

In light of this death that Jesus experienced, Paul says that now, even the spiritual death that is brought on by sin, that entered the world through Adam so long ago and caused the entire human race to fall, has been defeated. Jesus submitted Himself to this death, and conquered it by paying the perfect penalty for it, and rising again to walk in the victory of eternal life. We, being adopted into His family, are joined with Him in His victory - never forget this: 

Through Christ, we are brought into eternal victory without ever having to pay the penalty...that is pure grace and pure mercy on a level only God can bestow.

Romans 6:8

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  Romans 6:8 ESV

Paul has spent the last several verses explaining how, when we became believers, we were part of a miracle - the miracle of regeneration. He has laid this out as a part of his argument that, even though God's grace is more powerful than sin, we as God's children must never think that a sinful lifestyle is acceptable. Paul knows that in order for us to really understand the power of God's grace, we must also understand the power of the change that takes place inside us when we are adopted into God's family - it is so much deeper than simply making a decision, and he has described it in several ways:

1. We have been baptized with Christ into His death, now we walk in newness of life.
2. We are united with Christ in death, now we know we are united with Him in resurrection.
3. Our body of sin was crucified with Christ, sin no longer has the power to control or condemn us. 

And now Paul caps it with verse 8:

4. We have died with Christ, we now live with Christ.

We really need to spend some time reading over verses 1-8, and meditate on this miracle that happens within us when we are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.

Spend some time thinking about what it means to be baptized into Christ, and even more so baptized with Him in His death. What did Christ die to? What was defeated? Spend some time thinking about what it means to walk in newness of life...do we see this in our life?

Spend some time thinking about what it means to be united with Christ in His death, and what it means to be resurrected with Him. What died in our lives and what was resurrected? Can we see the change in our life that can only be brought on by the power of this resurrection?

Spend some time thinking about what it means for our 'old man' to be crucified with Christ...what was put to death and have we experienced this? We all battle sin every day, but has our desire for it been crucified? Does our life reveal that we have been set free from sin?

Spend some time thinking about what it means to die with Christ so that we can live with Christ. What characterizes a life lived without Christ? What characterizes a life lived with Christ? 

I would implore each and every one of us to spend the next week poring over these eight verses, pleading with God to write them on our hearts, revealing more about who He is and the miracle He has performed inside of us. We need to begin to grasp this miracle of death to life so that we can respond in the way that glorifies God. If we miss the power of this miracle, we will very tragically distort the response.

In the next couple of verses, Paul provides answers to some of the questions I just asked above by summarizing Christ's death and how it sets us free to live - something we are able to do only because we have died to our old self, the selfish desires, sinful pursuits, and lusts of the flesh. We will look a little deeper at what it means to live with Christ as we dig in to those verses.

Also, it's important to keep in mind that this dying with Christ so that we can live with Him is a miracle that happens to us, not something that we can create or make happen to ourselves. No amount of 'good works' are powerful enough to regenerate a heart, only God possesses that kind of power. As Paul explains this miracle that happens to us, he is working his way towards the response that ought to be present in our lives - and our responsibility in that response.

I'm looking forward to digging into Paul's summary of these verses next time...praying that God gives us the capacity to even begin to grasp the power of this miracle Paul has been describing! Please share any wisdom or insight that might help us understand the utter power of it all! Thank you and God bless!