You Died with Christ

Living the Christian Life, Lesson 2

Living the Christian Life is a Bible study series that explores Paul’s teaching aboutChristian growth and sanctification in Romans 6:1–8:17.

Introductory Thoughts

After a lengthy discussion of the need for and basis ofjustification by grace through faith in Christ (i.e., salvation or conversion),Paul now explains how this same truth should transform our mindset andlifestyle as Christians (i.e., sanctification or Christian growth). Thebeliever’s close identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrectionplaces him or her in a new position. He is no longer a slave to sin but servesJesus Christ instead.

Passage: Romans 6:5-7

In English (NKJV)

v.5       For if wehave been united together in the likeness of his death,certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection,

v.6       Knowing this,that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sinmight be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

v.7       For he who has diedhas been freed from sin.

In Greek

v.5       ει γαρ συμφυτοιγεγοναμεν τω ομοιωματι του θανατου αυτου αλλα και της αναστασεως εσομεθα

v.6       τουτο γινωσκοντεςοτι ο παλαιος ημων ανθρωπος συνεσταυρωθη ινα καταργηθη το σωματης αμαρτιας του μηκετι δουλευειν ημας τη αμαρτια

v.7       ο γαρ αποθανων δεδικαιωταιαπο της αμαρτιας

Key Words and Insights

Mounce’sComplete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006)together with an interlinear Bible, like The NKJV Greek English InterlinearNew Testament (Thomas Nelson, 1994) is an excellent way to get accuratedefinitions for your Bible study based upon Greek and Hebrew meanings.

• (εἰ): this word introduces a hypotheticalscenario that Paul raises to strengthen his argument. In this case, thehypothetical scenario is actually true. The point that he is making in thisstatement is meant to support what he has already said in v.4.
• (σύμφυτος): “planted together, grown together; as a NT metaphor –  grown together, closely entwined or unitedwith.”
• (ὁμοίωμα): “likeness, resemblance, similitude.” This is a word thatdescribes a similar, shared experience. Your death is like Christ’s death becauseyour death was intertwined with his death. Since this is the case, then you arealso intertwined with his resurrection. In other words, the death andresurrection of Christ was not just something he did for you, but it wasalso something he did with you (or you did with him). As he overcame thepower of sin and death, so you have also done with him.
• (γινώσκω): “to perceive, tounderstand, to acknowledge, to be assured.” This word often conveys somethingmore than mere intellectual (or “head”) knowledge, implying something like“knowledge from personal experience” or “knowledge that influences the way thatyou perceive and do things.”
• (παλαιος ημων ανθρωπος): this phrase refers to our former unregenerate,fallen nature that was driven to sin, or former identity before God apart fromGod.
• (σῶμα): this refers to a person’s physical body and may also referto a person’s feelings, emotions, and psyche as well, but not to a person’sspirit.
• (καταργέω): “to render useless or unproductive, to renderpowerless.” In this case, it does not refer to total annihilation ordestruction. Instead, it portrays “stripping something of its former power,”even though that ‘something’ may still exist. (Note: the KJV mistranslates thisword as destroyed, which is an overstatement. Your sinful desires have notbeen destroyed. Instead, they have been made powerless, though they still exist.)
• (δουλεύω): “to be a slave or servant; to be in slavery orsubjection; to discharge the duties of a slave or servant; to serve, beoccupied in the service of, be devoted, subservient.”
• (δικαιόω): “to be acquitted, to be cleared,” as in “to be declaredfree” or “to be liberated or emancipated.”

Questions for Meditation and Reflection

How were we “intertwined” or “united” with Christ in his death andresurrection?

This was both a legal and spiritual association. From a legalstandpoint, God viewed the death of Christ as the legal substitute for your ownsentence of death on account of your sins. From a spiritual standpoint, God joinedyou with Christ in a spiritual way that only God could do so that his death wasyour death in an actual sense. In these ways, you and Christ are like two seeds,planted together at the same time and growing together forever afterward.

How does your “old man” differ from your new identity as a personbefore God?

Though you still have desires to sin, you are no longer driven tosin in the same all-consuming, unrelenting way that you formerly endured.

How do your physical desires to sin differ from the way they werebefore you were converted?

Before you were converted, your physical desires to sin dominatedand controlled your life. They were compulsory and you had to oblige. You were unableto ultimately resist your sinful urges. Now that you have been regenerated byGod through Christ, those same desires exist, but they’ve been stripped oftheir compulsory, dominating power. They are like a dog without teeth, a catwithout claws, and a wasp without a stinger.

In what way was your previous, unregenerate life a form of slavery?

Sin was your master. Though sinning may have given you the illusionof freedom and liberation, you were merely obeying your cruel master, sin. Notonly did sin require you to do ungodly things, it also treated you verycruelly.

What is your relationship to sin today?

Sin is no longer your taskmaster, as it was before. It has noauthority to tell you what to do. When Roman slaves were given their freedom,they often returned to their former masters for another period of service. Why?Because they could not fend for themselves. In a similar way, many slaves whowere emancipated after the American Civil War either returned to plantations orsuffered in poverty. Why? Because slavery was all they knew.

Thanks to men like Booker T. Washington and George WashingtonCarver and institutions like Tuskegee Institute, many liberated slaves wereable to acquire the knowledge and skills they needed to live both a free andsuccessful life.

Rom 6:1–8:17 serves a similar function. Many believersunfortunately dabble with or succumb to their former sinful tendencies. Why?Because they don’t know the truth about their freedom in Christ and their abilityto say no to sin and yes to God in their thoughts, choices, and habits.

Questions for Personal Application

• Howis it helpful to know that the sinful desires of your body have been strippedof their former power though they have not been eradicated completely?

• Do youever use the words “I can’t help it” when you give in to temptation?

• Howwould you counsel another believer to says, “I can’t help it,” when they sin?

• Howwell have you been trained to take full advantage of your freedom from sin?

• What are you doing to receive the knowledge and skills that you need to live out your freedom from sin?