Romans 6:8-6:11 - United in His Life

Calvin (8/18/01)

6:8: Just as Christ's death is done and complete, and His life continues eternally, so our death to sin ought to be done and complete, and our pursuit of newness of life to continue all of our life. "If we roll again in our own filth, we deny Christ."
6:9: Jesus willingly put Himself under death's dominion, but only for a time. In resurrection, He broke it's power over Him, and so, as He breathes life into us, we too are freed from the power of death.
6:10: If freed from death, so also we are freed from the sin whose end death is. That freedom from sin was the object and purpose of Christ's death. Not that Christ needed to die to sin in Himself, but He died on account of our sins. He died once, that one death sufficient to the whole of His purpose in sanctifying all the faithful. We too die once, in the regeneration and reconciliation we have in Him. Though that death to sin may come to completeness in us slowly, yet it traces back to that one point of death in life. Just as our death is like His, yet not the same as His, so our life is like His, yet not identical to His. We do not go immediately to heaven upon our redemption, but remain here. However, we have begun a new life that we will continue all our remaining days here. Note that this (v8) is not a command, a 'we ought to.' It is a declaration by faith, 'we believe we will.' By faith, we know we will continue in this new life, for He who gave us new life is able to keep us alive in that newness.
6:11: While yet living here, we have already died to sin. Though the dying is slow, yet Christ struck the destroying blow at the start. Were it not so, our certainty that His grace would keep us alive in Him would not be certain at all. But knowing the first part complete, we are assured that the second part will also be completed. That grafting into Christ that has been accomplished in us assures us that His life will uphold our own for all eternity.

Matthew Henry (8/12/01)

6:8: When Christ died, we died with Him, dying to sin in conformity to His purpose and His example. In baptism, we are sealed in union with Christ, to have no more to do with sin than He did. (Col 2:12 - We were buried with Him in baptism, and also raised from the dead in Him, through faith in God's mighty work.) We are resurrected into a conformity with righteousness, which, for saints past, was seen in their rising at Christ's resurrection. (Mt 27:52 - Many of the dead saints were raised from the tomb at His death.)
6:9: Christ rose to die no more, leaving His grave clothes behind. Others were also raised from the dead, but would eventually return. So, Lazarus, brought his grave clothes back with him for later use. (Rev 1:18 - I was dead, but now am alive forever, holding the keys of death and Hades.) We, too, must depart the grave of sin permanently, not to return again.
6:10: Others rose to return to their previous life. Christ rose to a new life, departing the world to live to God. (Jn 13:1 - Jesus knew He would be leaving this world to go to the Father. Jn 17:11 - I am no longer in the world, but must leave them here as I come to You. Keep them, oh Father, that they can be united, even as We are.) We, too, must rise up to a new life devoted to God.
6:11: As much of a change as the death of our oppressor might bring, the death of the oppressed himself brings even greater change. Dead to sin, we ought to be as indifferent to its pleasures as the dying man is to the things that defined his former life. Such a death is brought into being by the sanctification of the soul. The new life we have consists in conversing with, delighting in, and being concerned for God, making of Him the sole object of our soul. "The soul is where it loves, rather than where it lives." To live unto God is to hold His honor and glory as our purpose, and His Word as our rule. This is only possible through Christ, who is our spiritual life, our head and our root. "In living to God, Christ is all in all."

Adam Clarke (8/18/01)

6:8: No comments.
6:9: As believers in Christ Jesus, our death to sin and life of righteousness ought to keep us from sinning any more, as we seek things above. We should walk in "trembling, loving obedience to an indwelling Christ," leaving sin powerless over us, as death is powerless over Him.
6:10: It must remain clear to us that the death Christ died to sin is by no means the same as our own death to sin. [His death was due to sin, but it was due to ours, not His. And His death broke the power of sin over us. Our death is a daily matter, a continuing process of denying the lusts of the flesh, and pursuing righteousness.]
6:11: Our death to sin ought to be as real as Christ's death, and our life unto God as true as His life.

Barnes' Notes (8/18/01)

6:8: Just as Christ died just once, and continued from there in eternal life, so we ought to die to sin, and sin no more, pursuing from that point onward a life of obedience to God. If His work [into which we were baptized] has put sin to death in us, faith requires that we believe we will now and ever live with Him. We will live with Him now inasmuch as this: when we pursue a life of holiness, we are resurrected from our sinfulness here and now, in a manner of speaking. And, as Christ lives forever, we too will know eternal life.
6:9: It is a settled matter with the Christian that having died to sin, He will die no more. No other atonement will need to be made, nor will it be made. He is sufficient. (Rev 1:18 - I am the living One who was dead, but now live forever, holding the keys of death and Hades.) This ought to both assure us of our own estate, and serve to keep us in pursuit of holiness. The Holy One continues forever. How can we not pursue holiness, who desire to be with Him? Death no longer holds power over Him. (Heb 9:25-28 - If His atonement was not sufficient, He would need to have suffered many times since the world began. But He came once to die, and so ended sin. And just as there is but one death for man prior to judgment, so for Christ, there was but the one death to atone for our sins, and then shall He come with salvation in His hand for those who await Him. Heb 10:12 - One sacrifice for all time was made, and now He sits with God once more.)
6:10: The purpose of His death was to put an end to sin by His atonement. So, we who have been baptized into that death ought also to have it as our purpose to put an end to sin, and no longer to indulge in it. (2Co 5:15 - He died for all of us, that we ought to live no longer for ourselves but for Him who rose again, having so died for us.) It will not be done again. (Heb 7:27 - He has no need of daily sacrifice for His own sins, and those of His people, because He did all that was needed in His first sacrifice, Heb 9:12 - through His own blood, He once and for all obtained eternal redemption for us. Heb 10:10 - And that one offering of His body will sanctify us once for all.) The purpose of His life is to glorify God. We who claim to be bound to Him ought to imitate Him, and share in His purpose. All our power and effort ought to go toward glorifying God.
6:11: Knowing all this, think of sin as having as little influence over you as the world has over those in the grave. So long as this life continues, make it your sole purpose to promote the glory of God. Both of these are possible only through Jesus Christ, and both of these must follow where His work has been done.

Wycliffe (8/18/01)

6:8: It is knowing we have died with Christ that gives us confident belief that we will be raised with Him.
6:9: His victory over death is permanent.
6:10: Both before and after His death, He lived for the sole purpose of glorifying God. But having defeated sin and death in His own death and resurrection, the life He lived for God thereafter was different than it had been before.
6:11: We must continually remind ourselves that we are dead to sin because the possibility of sinning is always present. We also must continually remind ourselves that we live for God.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (8/18/01)

6:8: Our living in Christ is spoken of as future tense not to refer to some time yet to come, but to refer to the certainty of our continued union with Him.
6:9: Christ's death was most certainly voluntary, but in surrendering to death, He allowed it a dominion over Him for a time. (Jn 10:17-18 - The Father loves me because I both lay down My life and take it back. Life is not taken from Me, I give it up voluntarily, and by My own authority. By that same authority, I will take it back, because this is what the Father has commanded for Me. Ac 2:24 - God raised Him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that death should hold Him in its power.) Once that dominion was broken, it was broken forever.
6:10: His death was in obedience to sin's claims [the legal penalty of sin.] (Heb 7:27 - He doesn't need to offer daily sacrifices, for His one sacrifice of Himself was sufficient. Heb 9:12 - His own blood was offered, and so He opened the Holy place permanently, obtaining eternal redemption. Heb 10:10 - And this redemption will sanctify us once for all.) In His time in the flesh, Christ still lived for God's glory, but with the burden of our sin upon Him. (Is 53:6 - We had all gone our own way, but God caused all our sins to fall on Him. 2Co 5:21 - He who knew no sin was made sin for us, so that in Him we might be made the righteousness of God.) Now, the sacrifice has been made, and the life He lives to God no longer carries that burden.
6:11: Just as He is dead to sin and alive to God, we ought also to be.

New Thoughts (8/19/01)

This redemption will sanctify us once for all (Heb 10:10). There can be, need be, and will be, no other atonement made. We have been made 'at one' with our God and our Savior. This is the reality. So why doesn't it feel that way? How is it that, if anything, I feel a greater need for cleansing now than ever? How is it, knowing what God has done for me, knowing what Christ went through to accomplish this for me; how is it that I can yet step right back into the habits of a former life? Like Lazarus, I have been lifted from the tomb of death by my Lord. Have I, like Lazarus, taken my grave clothes with me in preparation for a return, or have I followed my Lord's example and left them behind? It seems I have been carrying them, for death's call continues to harry me in this new life.

Jesus, I know that You have already paid the penalty for even these sins I have been falling into lately (I had called them mistakes, but let's be honest. Sin is sin.) I know that no other atonement can or will be made, nor is it necessary. You are all in all, and You are more than sufficient for this sinner's need. I pray, my Lord, that You would forgive me once more for my sins against You (how the mind wants to substitute another word, any other word for sin!) As Calvin said above, "if we roll again in our own filth, we deny Christ." And, oh my God, I know I've been rolling. Though it angers and saddens me even as I step into it, yet my feet continue to carry me on into sin. Save me from myself, oh Lord! I cannot save myself. This is as clear today as ever before. Lord, how many times, how many ways, have You been showing me lately just how much You saved me from? How many conversations have I walked away from saying "why are we even discussing this?" I sense the beginning of the answer. You have been reminding me that in all those cases, in all those circumstances, it was none of my doing that kept me from sinking. It was You and no other. Today, Jesus, I need You and no other to lift me back out of the mud pit I've been creating for myself. Help me, sweet Jesus, to walk away from these sinful habits once more. Build in me again habits of righteousness. Remind me even more forcibly, my God, that it is You I serve, that it is You I have been separated unto. Make my death to sin just as real as Your own death on the cross. Lord, though I know that perfection of righteousness won't be mine until I see You in heaven, yet I pray that You would bring it now. I want to live as true unto You. Come, even now, Lord Jesus, and make me whole in You.

We have claimed bonds to Christ in baptism. We have declared ourselves before God and man to be His servants. Having made that claim, we must, we must come to share His purpose in life. We, like our Lord and Master, MUST live a life devoted to God. Our purpose, so long as life continues, MUST be to promote the glory of God. This is what death was for, to allow new life to come into us, that we might rise from the grave of sin and live again, totally devoted to God, to Him who raised Jesus from death, and through Him, raised us from death as well. This is an impossibility for us except we be continually reminded that we are dead to sin, that we live for God. The possibility of sinning is ever present. Opportunities abound in this life, and the eyes, the ears, and all the other organs of sensation are all too susceptible to enticement. But we are dead to this! What the senses sense no longer registers. That is how we are to be. We live for God. Only that which the senses report to us of Him register upon our mind. But, unless we are constantly reminded that this is so, we will assuredly fail. And we cannot remember to remind ourselves as often as we need to be reminded. So, it is only by the very power of God that we walk in this new life. It is only by the power of God that we walk in this state of death. It is only by the power of God that we live and move and have our being. Rejoice, oh my soul! God has so loved you that He has breathed into you new life! Praise be to my Maker! For He has remade me. He has corrected the damage I have allowed to mar this creation, and made of me something new, something good, something whole! Oh, it may not look like much now, but the clay always seems a bit dull before it's been fired. The finest of metals still requires the purifying fire before it can display its best form. The diamond was but a lump of coal before the pressure was applied.

God, I welcome Your cleansing, Your purifying. I welcome whatever You find necessary to bring this work of Yours to completion. I pray that You will find me willing to work with You, that as You put Your hands to this clay, You will find it malleable, and ready to take on the shape You have in mind. That body of sin within me still hangs on the cross, still gasps for life in me (or death in me, more properly.) I pray that You would hasten its end, that my life might be totally devoted to You, free of the distractions that so easily catch me out. Burn away the dross, my Liege. Open my ears to Your faintest call. I am Your servant.