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!

Romans 6:6,7

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.  Romans 6:6,7 ESV

Wow - what powerful verses! Through Paul, God tells us over and over in chapter 6 that through His Son Jesus Christ we have died and been resurrected, so that now we are able to live a life of holiness, not given to sin but repenting and purging sin from our lives as we pursue the relationship with God that we have been adopted into! We shouldn't take it lightly that so much time is spent explaining this from different angles - this is important doctrine.

In response to his question in verse 1 "Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?" Paul has explained that, as Christians, we have been united with Christ through baptism into Him and His death, so that we can walk in newness of life. In verses 6 and 7, Paul will expound on our baptism in Christ, and provide a clear answer to the question in verse 1 (which he asked not in search of an answer but in order to set the stage for God's answer).

Let's dig in to verse 6! Paul starts off by using the Greek word ginōskō which is translated 'knowing' or 'we know' - and by definition means 'to know absolutely' or 'to be sure, understand'. We can be absolutely positive that whatever Paul is about to say is a perfect promise from God to us, and we know that God is faithful in keeping His promises. Prepare to be encouraged by our Heavenly Father through Paul!

Continuing in verse 6 we see the first part of God's promise that we can 'know', and be absolutely sure of: "We know that our old self was crucified with him" - Being 'crucified with Christ' is a continuation of Paul's explanation that we have been baptized into Christ's death, that we have been united with Him in a death like His. In verse 6, though, Paul adds clarity to what has been crucified - our 'old self', our 'old man' - basically who we are before Christ, complete with our sinful nature, our love of darkness, and our contempt towards the Light.

Some other verses that speak to this crucifixion that has taken place in the life of a believer:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 
Galatians 5:24

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.  Galatians 6:14

We can see in all three of these verses the same truth that Paul is talking about in Romans. The 'I' that we were before Christ, the sinful passions and desires, the love of the things that the world has to offer - these things are all part of the old man that was crucified with Christ when we were baptized into His death, and washed by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.

So, the first thing that we can be absolutely sure of is this: when we became Christians, our old self was crucified, as Christ was crucified - this is not something that happens to some believers, or something that might happen to all believers...this doctrinal truth that God promises happens to all who are adopted into His family. The more we lay hold of this truth and trust this promise, the more we will see it affect our lives!

As we move into verse 6 a little more, Paul uses the Greek word hina (denoting purpose or result) to transition into the explanation of why our 'old man' was crucified: in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing. The very purpose of our 'old man' (described here as the 'body of sin') being crucified was so that it would be 'brought to nothing'. The Greek word used here literally means to render useless, to be ineffective. Again, this is not a suggestion but a promise from God: 

 Who we were as condemned sinners has no bearing on who we are as God's children! 

We know the flesh, with all of it's sinful desires, will not completely disappear until we leave this earth, but the flesh along with it's sinfulness no longer carries any power to condemn or control us - because it has been crucified and brought to nothing. 

I think it's important to recognize that our old self being crucified and brought to nothing is something that happens within the regeneration process, through which our heart is changed from stone to flesh. We have no power to cause any part of regeneration - regeneration is the miracle of spiritual resurrection that happens by the grace of God, through Jesus Christ, enacted by the Holy Spirit. Some of the many verses that speak to this miracle:

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.  Ezekiel 36:26,27

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13,14

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Eph 2:9  not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Ephesians 2:8,9

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.  Hebrews 9:22-24

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit  Titus 3:4,5

It is so important for us to recognize that this miracle of regeneration is the power of God changing us, so that we can respond in a way that glorifies God for what He has done - by revealing what He has done in us to the world around us! There will always be a response in the lives of those who have been regenerated - which can be summed up as repentance, a life now lived moving towards God and away from sin. The response reveals that regeneration has actually taken place (James 2:18).  Throughout chapter 6, Paul will continue to talk about this moving away from sin and the fact that we have the responsibility, as God's children, to cultivate this response to magnify its power in our lives!

Ok, back to verse 6 in Romans. We have looked at God's promise that our flesh has been crucified with Christ and rendered powerless over us. Paul now takes that exact truth one step further - explaining in even more detail both the power that sin did have over us as lost people and the even greater power of regeneration: "so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." 

The word enslaved...not usually associated with anything pleasant is it? As humans, we like to be in control, and that includes not considering ourselves enslaved to anyone or anything. The Bible is very clear, however, that we are all slaves - either to sinfulness or to righteousness. The Greek word by definition means  to be a slave to - involuntarily or voluntarily - be in bondage, serve. 

By telling us that we are no longer enslaved to sin, Paul is saying here in verse 6 that, at some point in our lives we were enslaved to sin - that being before regeneration. As lost people, we were under the bondage of the flesh - controlled by the sinful pursuits and desires that both satisfied our flesh and condemned our souls. Paul spent a lot of time throughout the beginning of Romans describing what every single one of us looks like from God's perspective in light of His perfection. Some examples:

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 
Romans 1:29-31

But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. Romans 2:5

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." 
Romans 3:12-18

and other places in scripture:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Eph 2:1-3

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Col. 3:5-8

There are many, many other places as well that describe the evil heart of man in our lost state (this study goes into much more depth with more references in chapters 1,2, and 3 that we previously covered).

I believe it is crucially important for us to spend time attempting to grasp just how evil we are before a perfectly Holy God. When we understand that Paul isn't just describing the 'bad' people in the world, but every single one of us prior to regeneration, we can begin to truly appreciate what Paul what Paul says in Romans 6:6 - we are no longer enslaved to sin!

We were, but no we are not! Sin controlled us and condemned us, but it can do neither any longer - we have been set free by a much more powerful force - the miracle of regeneration. The putting to death by crucifixion the old man, and resurrection into new life, through Jesus Christ! And Paul tops it off with verse 7:

For one who has died has been set free from sin.

When the old man is crucified, we are set free - set free in the Greek means rendered just or innocent. How could we, such sinful creatures, be rendered just by a God who is perfect and cannot tolerate the slightest hint of sin in His presence? The point that Paul is driving in Chapter 6 is that, through the power of regeneration, we die to sin - but it doesn't end there. We are resurrected in newness of life, and that includes this:

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

God sees us wrapped in His Son's perfect righteousness, no longer controlled or condemned by the sinfulness we once loved! So, when Paul poses this question: "Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?" - our response ought to echo Paul's "By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" Father, forgive us for taking this too lightly, we pray that you would reveal to us more every day how sinful and evil we used to be, that we might better appreciate the gift you have given!

 

Romans 6:5

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. Roman 6:5 ESV

Paul begins verse 5 with a word of conditionality: if. If this has happened, then this will happen, for example: if I jump off of a 100 story building, I will die. If I eat healthy food, I will not starve to death. When we read the word if in verse 5, we should be looking for the condition and the result:

 If we have been united with Christ in death - we will be united with Him in resurrection.

Paul doesn't say if you have been united with Christ in death, it's possible that you will be united with Him in resurrection...NO! If we have been united with Christ in death, WE WILL BE united with Him in a resurrection like His!!

That's great news! It's not an issue of uncertainty, but absolute certainty! So, the next question should be - how do I become united with Christ in death, so that I can meet the condition upon which the certainty of being united with Him in resurrection lies? Paul answered that in verse 3:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Romans 6:3

All believers are baptized into Christ Jesus through regeneration - which involves being baptized into, or united with, Him in His death! God's promise to all truly born again believers is this - you have been united with Jesus Christ in a death like His, therefore you will be united with Him in a resurrection like His!

The uncertainty never lies with what God has promised to His children, the uncertainty lies in this: are you truly a child of God? Have you been baptized into Jesus Christ through the awesome power of regeneration?

  

For if we have been united with him in a death like his

I want to look at this statement a little in reverse for clarity. The word 'like' here means 'in resemblance, or in likeness.' We have been united with Christ through, or as a result of, experiencing a death that resembled His. What Christ did physically, becoming sin, dying, and rising again to never die, displays the transformation that we experience spiritually when we are regenerated by the power of God. 

Through this death to sin, and spiritual regeneration, we are united with Jesus Christ - 

One cannot be united with Jesus unless they have experienced this regeneration, and those who have been regenerated absolutely will be united with Jesus!

The that Paul uses here, translated united, or planted together, is also very important. It would be easy to gloss over this, taking it to mean we are now on the same side as Christ, the side of good instead of evil - which is true. We could take it to mean that we now live alongside or next to Christ, that He is there for us no matter what - which is also very true. However, neither of these really scratches the surface of what this word means. 

In the Greek this word sumphutos refers to being grown along with (connate) - connate leaves are two leaves that are joined physically at the base. In anatomy, connate means firmly united or fused.

So, we can read the beginning of verse 6 to say: Through our regeneration (our death to sin and spiritual resurrection that resembles Christ's physical death and resurrection), we are joined as one, fused (united) with Christ. 

How big of a transformation is this? Galations 2:20 says it all:  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 

Having looked at the words 'united' and 'like' as Paul used them to describe the dying that is part of our regeneration as believers, we can apply the same definitions here to the being made spiritually alive part of our regeneration. Christ physically conquered death, displaying the power that our spiritual resurrection carries. 

Ephesians 2:5 -   even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved

We were as dead spiritually as Christ was dead physically in the grave - and as eternally alive as Christ is today, so are we! Through Him and spiritually joined to Him! We were completely dead and have been made truly, eternally alive. Anything other than this would suggest a transformation that was not in resemblance to what Christ physically displayed!

We can read in several places of the powerful union that we have entered into with God as a result of this miraculous resurrection that has taken place spiritually within us:

that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 

1 Cor 1:9

fellowship here means a very intimate relationship, in communion with. Jesus describes it in this powerful way:

that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:21

Can we ever really begin to grasp that we have entered into a relationship with the God that created every single star in the universe, including the ones we haven't even seen. The God that created the human body so amazingly perfect and complex that we will never know exactly how everything works. The God that created everything we see and everything we will see, from absolutely nothing.

We have entered into an intimate communion with this God! Entering into communion with this God requires powerful miracles, powerful death and powerful resurrection, powerful regeneration, powerful displays of grace and mercy. We must be very careful not to make it about things that we can wrap our mind around - we will never wrap our minds fully around this! 

To summarize - we resemble Christ's death in two ways - we have died to sin as Christ took on sin and died, and we were dead in our trespasses as Christ was physically dead. Through our death, we are united, joined together, with Christ and now experience an eternal resurrection, in resemblance to the physical resurrection that He displayed as victory over sin and death!

Romans 6:4

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 6:4 ESV

We previously looked at the beginning of verse 4, where God revealed through Paul that all who have been saved, who have been baptized into Christ, have also been buried with Him by baptism into His death - we have been united with Him in every aspect.

Now, we will dig in to the end of verse 4 and see what Paul is saying as a whole in this verse.

in order that

By using this phrase, Paul reveals that there is a very specific purpose for us being buried with Christ by baptism into death. God, in His wisdom, always accomplishes what He plans by the most perfect means. So that we can see what Paul is saying, we will take the verse apart and look at it out of order and then reconstruct it. Paul says this

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that (...) we too might walk in newness of life.

The very specific reason we were buried with Christ by baptism into death is so that we can walk in newness of life. This is the miracle of regeneration, which we can see detailed in Titus 3:4-7:

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,  he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 

Through Christ, we are regenerated, also meaning restored - so that we can enter into a relationship with God that is eternal life.  

The picture being painted here and throughout Scripture is that of two realms - they are referred to as the realm of darkness and light, death and life, condemned and justified, lost and saved. Paul spent a lot of time in the first 3 chapters of Romans detailing who we are, how we act, what we pursue when we are a part of the realm of darkness. We indulge in the lust of the flesh, we enjoy selfish pursuits, we are prideful, we want nothing to do with God, we are alive in the flesh but spiritually dead.

In order to enter into spiritual life, death must occur. Look at what Jesus said in John 12:24,25

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Our old self, with its earthly, material, temporal lusts and pursuits, must be put to death. Colossians 3:1-17 speaks in great detail of this putting off of the old and putting on of the new. I pulled a few of the verses out of this passage that speak specifically to putting the old self to death. I recommend reading the entire passage.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col 3:2

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Col 3:5

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Col 3:8

In Ephesians 2:1-3, we see even more about who we are in our lost state, in the realm of darkness:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 

If we read a little further in Ephesians, we can make this conclusion:

Regeneration does not occur as a result of us putting to death the old man, but instead regeneration is God putting to death the old man!

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Eph 2:4-9

So, what we see in regeneration is a transformation - from a spiritually dead corpse to a new creation. These verses in Colossians detail the transformation that takes place:

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Col 1:13,14

having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Col 2:12-14

There are also many verses that speak to this newness of life that we have entered into! They are such encouraging promises from Almighty God that, no matter how much we struggle, He has provided victory over the flesh by giving us new life as new creations - caterpillars to butterflies!!!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Cor 5:17

For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Gal 6:15

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.  Eze 36:26,27

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, if you have given your life to Him, if you have experienced the change in your life that is regeneration, you have been transferred from darkness to life, from death to life, embrace this newness of life - purge the sin and embrace Christ!

Keep in mind that Paul is writing this to destroy any idea that sin is OK in the Christian life. We are all sinful creatures in the light of our Holy and Perfect God - but sin is never OK, and should never be embraced by those who have been given, by God, the gift of Spiritual life - ever! Instead we should be begging for God to reveal our sins to us, and for powerful conviction that would move us to purge this sin from our lives in daily repentance - as we turn from sin as it is revealed to us, our relationship with God grows stronger - and we become more effective as servants for His glory!

Now, back to Romans 6:4 - we skipped a line that Paul had inserted between us being buried by baptism into death and the reason - newness of life.

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.

just as Christ was raised from the dead

Just as means exactly like - we were raised from the dead exactly like Christ was. This should grab our attention...we are called to be like Christ, we are co-heirs with Christ, we are baptized into Christ, and buried into the baptism of His death - and now we are raised from the dead, exactly like Christ!

We know that Christ took on and became sin, died, and was resurrected as a conqueror over sin and death. We know that we were sin, we died, and were resurrected as conquerors over sin through Christ. But there is another reason that our being raised into life is exactly like Christ.

"by the glory of the Father"

'by', as we've looked at before, means the channel of an act. The glory of the Father was the path through which Christ's resurrection, and our transformation from death to life took place. The glory of the Father - in the Greek this word glory is doxa - also translated glorious, honor, praise, dignity, worship - also described as  a most glorious condition, most exalted state. 

We weren't raised up because we were good people, because we belong to a certain church or denomination, or because we wanted to be. We definitely weren't raised up so that we could be guaranteed a life of prosperity and ease. NO!

We were raised up by the glory of the Father - the act of sacrificing His Son and resurrecting Him, and of transferring us from spiritual death to eternal life is our God in His most glorious condition, in His most exalted state!!!

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.

Thank You Father, for revealing Yourself so perfectly, so lovingly, so beautifully through the power of regeneration! Help us to pursue a life of holiness, that You may in some way reveal Yourself through us to the hurting world around us! In Your Son's Name, Amen!  

Romans 6:3.4

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 ESV

Last time, we looked at the beginning of verse 3 and what it means to be baptized into Jesus Christ - which is to enter into a union with Christ that produces a change in us. Every believer experiences this spiritual baptism, it is what makes us God's children...it is the adoption process!

At the end of verse three and into the following verses, Paul will go into greater detail, explaining the different facets of this spiritual baptism and how God has revealed both Himself and His promises through this baptism, this union that has taken place between us and Christ.

...were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death

As believers baptized into Jesus Christ, Paul tells us we were also baptized into his death. This is what we looked at in the last post concerning baptism:

'When Greek writers used the word baptizo, they meant that the object would be completely overcome by the substance it was being baptized into, and that the substance would cause a change to the object.'

First, Paul explained that we were baptized into Christ...we were immersed into, overwhelmed by, united with Christ,  we were and are completely overcome by Him, to the point that we have become a changed people - now Paul goes into greater detail about how this baptism into Christ actually changes us.

A part of being baptized into Christ is being baptized into His death...immersed into, overwhelmed by, united through, and completely overcome by this death - to the point that it changes who we are.

As Christ experienced death, so do we. Chris died to emerge victorious over sin and death. Through His victory, we die to sin and enter into eternal life.

This death is very important, it reveals that regeneration has taken place, that a person has truly experienced a transfer from darkness to light, from eternal condemnation to eternal salvation . Without being completely immersed into this death, we can never be set free from the condemnation brought on because of our sinfulness. The best we can hope for apart from this baptism into death is to live a 'good' life according to our standards and spend eternity in hell once this physical body has run it's course. 'Good' according to our standards does nothing to restore a relationship with a perfectly holy and righteous God.

Many of us, as lost sinners, tried and tried to become 'better' people apart from giving our lives to Christ, only to fall back into the same routines again and again. 

It takes more than just trying hard to become a child of God, in fact it takes more than we could even begin to fathom. It takes  pure, selfless love. It takes pure grace. It takes pure mercy. It takes a perfect sacrifice. It takes victory over sin and death. We are capable of none of these...but we can be baptized into them!

 
- and a crucial part of that baptism includes a death of the old self and it's desire to run from God.

The beauty of this is that we can't even do anything to make this baptism into death happen, it's a part of becoming a true believer - God causes it! Paul is telling us here that since God baptized, united us with His Son, we ought to run from sin - it's not who we are anymore!

Next time, we will look deeper into what happens as a result of this baptism into death. Keeping in mind that the reason Paul is explaining this is to encourage us as believers to pursue a life of holiness - to the glory of God!