Romans 6:6-11

Romans 6 is within a section of the book, from 5:12-8:13 t= hat covers the matter sanctification, our being made holy. The entire chapter addresses how w= e are identified with Christ in our sanctification. Verse 1-4 cover two main points:. First, through our death with Christ, there has been a permanent separation between the believer and the indwelling sinful nature. The sinful nature remains within t= he believer, but they have been delivered from its power. Second, in being raised together w= ith Christ, God has imparted His divine nature into the believer, giving them b= oth the desire and power to do God’s will. Verses 3-5 make it clear that beli= evers have been brought into union with Christ – in His death and His resurrection, with an irreversible result.= This are completed facts. These points are so critical to our understanding of what happened t= o us when we believed that Paul reiterate them for emphasis in 6:6-10 so we are = sure to catch their full implications. &nb= sp;

Verse 6 tells us that we need to come to know the facts concerning what happened to us. Our old man, with its sin= ful nature, has been crucified with Him. “Old” means old in use, worn out. The former use of our body was to = serve sin as slaves. We were at the sinful nature’s beck and call until Christ terminated our old man on = the cross. The cross rendered our= old man useless. Our old man has expired; it is obsolete and irrelevant.&nb= sp; It has been retired and scrapped.&n= bsp; Verse 7 states the fact that we died, which leaves us fully free and unaccountable to sin any longer. We are no longer employed by the sinful nature, and can freely choose to refuse his beckoning. The power of t= he sinful nature is broken as made clear in 6-7.

So where does this leave us? Ver= se 8-10 goes on to makes clear that we were with Him in His resurrection and we live with, or by, Him, in a life that is alive to God. His eternal, divine life has becom= e our life. So, since we died toget= her with Christ, we accept the fact that we now live together with Him. His history and status has become = ours. Verse 9 states the facts, and Paul= says that we acknowledge that we know them to be true: Christ has been raised from the de= ad and dies no more; Death lords it over Him no more. These facts are stated for our sake here, because they apply equally to the believers since they are in union w= ith Him. Sin no longer reigns over us. Death no longer has autho= rity as a lord over us. Then verse= 10 continues the glorious facts. He died a death with respect to the sinful nature once for all, and now He liv= es a life to God. We too! Because of what He has done, we en= joy the benefit as those joined with Him. He broke the connection with our sinful nature, and with His resurrection life, imparted a life that is able and desirous to live to God.

Based on all these facts, we are advised to take them into account in our assessm= ent, our estimation of our own life today. Reckon yourselves dead to sin, because that is the fact. And reckon yourselves alive to God, because that is also the fact. All the reckoning we could muster is meaningless without the facts being true.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> But if we ignore the facts that we= are dead to sin and alive to God, they will not be that effective in our living. Therefore, Paul advis= es us to “reckon,” to take an inventory, to audit, to accept, the fac= ts. Our thought and view of who we are= and how we are must properly account that we are, as an irreversible fact, decoupled and permanently separated from the power of the sinful nature wit= hin and we are ever more coupled to, engaged to the eternal life of God which h= as the desire and the power to live to Him.