Friday, August 14, 2009
Romans 6:8 If we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.
PARTICIPATING IN CHRIST
"If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection." "For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him." "Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
This then is the way we should think of our Christian baptism: as a participation in Christ's life, death, and resurrection. Jesus lived His life under the power of sin. Then He was crucified, dead, and buried--and this destroyed the power of sin. Then He rose again from the dead, free from sin, free from death, living a holy life to God.
Before our baptism we also were under sin. Then by baptism we were crucified, dead, and buried with Christ. Thus God destroyed the power of sin over us, and also the power of death; and we rose up from our baptisms with new life, living holy lives to God as Jesus did.
Paul's point is this: If we killed sin at our baptisms, why should we continue in sin or live in sin? That doesn't fit what happened at our baptisms. But this fits: "Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." "We should no longer be slaves of sin."
