IDENTITY: Daily Reading Plan #5
Romans 6:5-11
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. 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— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Paul has described Jesus' death on the cross for the sins of humanity as a one-time, once-for-all event. He submitted to death in that moment, but once He was resurrected, death was defeated. It no longer had any hold over Him. Jesus was free from death forever. Since, spiritually speaking, those who trust in Christ for their salvation also died, were buried, and then were resurrected to new spiritual life, we are on the same path that Jesus is. We are so closely identified with Christ now that God gives us credit for Christ's righteousness and takes the payment of His death for our sin. Christ literally "is our life" (Colossians 3:4).
Paul now writes that we must change the way we think about ourselves. We must no longer think of ourselves as self-reliant, self-serving, independent operators. Instead, as people in Christ, we must think of ourselves as dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.
What does it mean that we are dead to sin? Paul explained it in verse 6. Our old self was crucified with Christ and the "body of sin" that held us as slaves was done away with. We have been freed from sin's power. In that sense, we are dead to sin. It can't compel us to do wrong (1 Corinthians 10:13), though we have not lost the desire to sin (1 John 1:9–10). That's why we must keep reminding ourselves that we are dead to sin, as Paul will show in the following verses.
Reflection Questions
- What do these passages reveal about our identity?
- What does it look like to find my identity in who God says I am as dead to sin and alive to God?
- How does seeing myself and others this way cause me to change the way I think about and act toward myself and others?
