TUESDAY
Yesterday, we began the next phase of this campaign—looking at how God fights for us. God ultimately fights for us by dying and rising for us. Today, we are going to begin looking at a couple of passages in Romans that talk about God dying for us. Later this week, we will look at it from the perspective of God rising for us.
Romans 5:6–10 (NIV) 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
As I said yesterday, if we are to appreciate the weight of Christ dying for us, we have to know the depth of our plight in sin. Notice how we are described in these verses—weak, ungodly, sinners, enemies. These verses emphasize that Christ died for us before we made any move towards him. It wasn’t our initiative to end the enmity between us and God—it was his.
The reason driving this act of God fighting for us is none other than his own love (v. 8)! God demonstrates his love for us by dying for us while we were sinners. The cross proves God’s love for us. As my friend whose 9 year old son died says, “Life is hard.” It is full of suffering, pain, grief, division, and death. We may not always know the reason for our suffering, but we know that it is not because God does not love us. The cross proves that to be true. Jesus, God in flesh who has life in himself, suffered and died as our representative and our substitute to atone for our sins.
It is this atoning death that allows us to be justified by Christ’s blood (v. 9). We have been returned to this right standing with God because of Christ’s blood that pays the penalty for our sin. Switching metaphors a little, Paul says that we were reconciled to God through the death of Jesus. Justification implies a courtroom setting. Reconciliation implies a friendship setting. We have been returned to relationship with God because of Jesus’ death. The cross reveals that our justification and our reconciliation to God was free, but not cheap. The cost was the death of Jesus.
If we fast forward to the next chapter, we find Paul picking up a similar theme. Here he is responding to the challenge to the gospel of grace that promoted a sinful lifestyle so that grace may increase. His answer is essentially that we have died to sin and, therefore, we are no longer slaves to sin. Living in sin simply doesn’t comply with our new identity in Christ.
Romans 6:1–4 (NIV) 1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been set free 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. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
In verse 6 we see that we have died with Christ so that the sinful aspect of our nature will no longer be ruled by sin. Sin no longer has mastery over believers. This doesn’t mean that we are free from the presence of sin. Of course we still sin and are exposed to sin in this life. We are free from the our enslavement to sin. In our new identity with Jesus, we experience the reality of the new creation, but not yet in full. Christ has died for us and delivered us from our bondage to sin, but we will still do battle with it. We must still “not let sin reign in our mortal body so that you obey it’s evil desires.” We must not offer “any part of yourself to sin.”
Our identity is no longer our sinful nature enslaved to sin. Now we must live like it. Instead, in living our new identity, we must offer ourselves to God. In surrendering ourselves to God we become instruments of righteousness.
To be free from sin our old selves must die with Jesus. Paul is explaining further Jesus’ words “…whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” (Matt. 10:39) What Paul is describing, here, is a total new identity. Our old self is crucified with Christ and we are raised anew in Jesus. This new identity in Christ is attained by faith (Rom. 3-4) and symbolized by baptism (Rom. 6:3).
So, Christian, live in your true identity! Your old self, enslaved to sin, has been crucified with Jesus on the cross. Jesus has died for you; he has taken your place and bore the punishment that you deserved. You are no longer a slave to sin.
Reflection
Consider the source of the sins that you consistently struggle with. You can win this battle because Jesus has broken the mastery of sin over you.
- Do you know that your old self is crucified with Christ through faith in Jesus?
- Are you secure in that new identity in Christ? Or are you clinging to some aspect of your old identity? Are you afraid that your new life in Christ will be lacking in something without that old sin? Are you unwilling to surrender a certain aspect to Jesus? Do you trust that Jesus knows what’s best for you? Do you trust that fullness of joy is in his presence? Do you believe him when he says that he will give you fullness of life (Jn. 10:10).
- Surrender yourself fully to God. Receive the righteousness of Christ and walk with him as an instrument of righteousness.