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!