He who has died

Death is a guarantee we don’t necessary want but can be absolutely sure of.  Every person who is born dies, and nothing on earth we can do will prevent that.  Still people try to cheat death as much as possible.  Over the past several decades, our average lifespan has increased by twenty years.  Technologies exist that can prolong a person’s life for many years when they would have died only a few decades ago.  We can do all kinds of things to preserve life, but death ultimately comes for us all.

However, some deaths are trickier than others.  Spiritually dying to sin, for instance, isn’t such a certain thing as physical death.  Our tendency to sin is not removed when we become Christians.  We are simply given the freedom and the tools to keep sin at bay and remain pure and holy before God by His grace.

That’s what Paul was expressing in Romans 5, but his argument shifted when the question arose:  “Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound?”  His point was that in baptism death to sin is a requirement, and though baptism is a one-time act, that requirement is still in place.  That’s why he said a few verses later in Romans 6:6-7…

⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be ^[a]done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For he who has died has been ^[b]freed from sin.

First, he described our spiritual death on the cross, dying to the “old” man through baptism by joining in Christ’s death.  Second, he describes the purpose of that death:  “That we should no longer be slaves of sin.”  When we die with Christ, we are freed from sin. 

Death to sin is not a guarantee.  It’s something we have to actively participate in and be reminded of.  We were once enslaved by sin, but the gospel of Jesus freed us from that slavery so that being dead to sin we can be alive with Christ.  If you died, don’t try to prolong the life you left behind on the cross.  Let it stay dead and buried, so that you can be free to live in Christ.

                                                                                                In Christ,

                                                                                                Michael