We Who Died to Sin (2)
[Romans 6:1-11]
From Romans 1, we have been meditating on justification, and from Romans 6 onwards, we are reflecting on the sanctified life of those justified. Today, looking at Romans 6:2 and 11, the Apostle Paul tells the saints in the Roman church that “we who died to sin” (verse 2) and “consider yourselves to be dead to sin” (v. 11). How have we died to sin? We have died to sin because we have been united with Christ Jesus. Romans 6:3 says, "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" The word "baptized into" implies a union. Therefore, in Modern Korea Bible, it could be translated as, "Do you not know that we who were united with Christ Jesus in baptism were united with his death?" The term "united with" is used nine times in Romans 6:1-11. In John 15:4-5, Jesus speaks about abiding: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." Our dwelling in Jesus, and Jesus dwelling in us, is the essence of this union. Through this union, we have died to sin. If we were not united with Christ Jesus, we could never die to sin. We have received "baptism" in union with Christ (Rom. 6:3, 4). The word "baptism" means 'to immerse' or 'to be plunged into.' Therefore, in baptism, as practiced in some denominations, a person is immersed in water, symbolizing that the person has died to sin in union with Christ Jesus. Romans 6:4 says, "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death ...."
Even though we are living in this way, the Bible states that we have died to sin through being united with Christ Jesus in baptism. The meaning of this is that our old self died with Christ Jesus. Romans 6:6 says, "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." Here, “the old self” refers to the person who, in disobedience to God's covenant command (Gen. 2:17), committed sin (3:6) as the first Adam's descendant—a person belonging to Satan's dominion and delighting in sin, dwelling in sin as a slave to sin. This old self was crucified and buried with Christ Jesus on the cross (Rom. 6:6). Therefore, the Apostle Paul in Galatians 2:20 declares, "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."
So, how did Christ Jesus die? Christ Jesus died to sin "once for all." Romans 6:10a states, "For the death he died he died to sin, once for all." To redeem our sins, Jesus Christ bore all our sins and died on the cross once and for all. Although in the Old Testament era, the high priest entered the Most Holy Place once a year, first offering sacrifices for his own sins and then for the sins of the people of Israel, in the New Testament era, Jesus Christ offered a once-and-for-all atonement sacrifice. Hebrews 7:27 says, "He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself." Hebrews 9:12 continues, "he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption." Hebrews 10:10 adds, "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Therefore, we have died to sin once and for all. Romans 6:11a declares, "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin ...." When Jesus said, "It is finished" on the cross (Jn. 19:30), he accomplished everything. He died once and for all. However, this doesn't mean we no longer commit sin. We unintentionally commit sins because of our weaknesses, succumbing to Satan's temptations. But we are no longer bound to sin, delighting in it while remaining enslaved to it. Therefore, we must continually progress in our salvation, always united with Jesus Christ and relying on the help of the Holy Spirit. Philippians 2:12-13 says, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Hence, we are to act under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who works within us according to God's good pleasure. If, by any chance, we sin against God by not following the Holy Spirit but acting according to the flesh (old self), we must repent and turn to a life of obedience to God's Word, relying on the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Let us all live as those who have died to sin.