Reality of Life with Christ

We looked at Romans 6:1-11 for the fourth Sunday. This has been quite the series. The first time we looked at it we saw the profound truth that we have died and been raised with Christ. In our second look we saw the theology of baptism on display. In our third look we considered the theme of union with Christ and saw how foundational it was for our whole Christian life.

In this last look at these verses, we will drill down into the reality of life with Christ now and see three truths that help us live our Christian lives and walk our Christian journey, looking specifically at verses 5-11.

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. ⁶ 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. ⁷ For one who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

The first truth is that in Christ, if we have died with him, we “will certainly” also live with him. Paul uses the future tense here to signal the certainty of the resurrection life of believers. He’s not saying, “one day you will live with Christ” but rather “as surely as you died with Christ so you will live with him now!”

The second truth is that, if we have died with Christ, we are no longer under the dominion of sin. This means that there is a new power in you to fight your sin. In fact, in Christ there is no sin you cannot fight and have victory over. This doesn’t mean you could become perfect in this life, because winning battles doesn’t mean the war is over. There are more battles to fight and win. Further, even the battles who have won may have to be fought again and again. But it’s still true that you can win any particular battle because Christ has set you free from sin’s dominion.

The third truth is that now that we have died and been raised with Christ, we will never die again, because Christ shall never die again. What is the point of Paul saying, “Christ shall never die again.” It seems to be to comfort us and make it plain that in Christ we shall never die again. Now it is true that we will die physically, but that for the Christian can hardly even be described as a death, for it brings us to a state of being more alive than ever before.