Rom
6:5-10 (NIV) If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will
certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our
old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away
with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died
has been freed from sin.
8 Now
if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we
know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no
longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all;
but the life he lives, he lives to God.
NOTE: The first
thing to note is the use of the word "if." In other words, not everyone is united with
him in his death, even though he died for the whole world. But if we have been united -- in reference to
our baptism in the previous verses, which is a public identification of our
belief in Christ -- then we are also united with him in his resurrection. Baptism does not save us or resurrect us, our
faith in Christ' work does that. Baptism
is an outward declaration of what God has done inwardly. And so, because we believed, our old self is
crucified with him. The purpose (vs 6)
is to do away with our body of sin. But
the use of the word 'might' suggests that it is not immediate or necessarily
assured. And the phrase 'should no longer' tells us that we
have a response in order to free ourselves from sin. We cannot affect our ultimate salvation, but
we can affect our lives on earth. Our
belief in Christ assures us that we will live with him and like him we no
longer need to fear death. But as for
how his death affects our lives today, the next group of verses will show that
we have a responsibility for our sanctification. Belief saves us for all eternity, but how we
live our lives now will have consequences today and tomorrow (and incidentally
beyond death as well).
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