Romans 6:5-6 - Our Flesh? That Silly Old Thing? (Conciliation Series, Part XVI)

  Part IV: God’s Conciliation, Confirmed

For if we have become planted together in the likeness of His death, nevertheless we shall be of the resurrection also…

For. There’s that word again! “For!”

I’ve come to learn that both Greek and Hebrew are “narrative” languages. Their letters, unlike English or other languages, are distinctly designed to form a narrative – which is why they are perfect for God to make Himself known to us through them. The word “for,” as I said before, denotes a definitive “therefore,” or “truly, thus” statement. It’s stronger than “wherefore” or “therefore” in this sense. For if the previous statements are true, then this statement is forcibly the case. It becomes emphatically true.

The reason I mention it again here is because Paul begins an “if, then” statement. Some may use the “if” of this sentence to actively deny the statement Paul makes, here. “Oh, this is only an ‘if,’ so ‘if’ the first half of the statement is true, ‘then’ the second half is true! As I believe the first half is not true, the second half is not true as well! Why else would Paul say if here?” Thankfully, there’s a for here to tie us to the fact that Paul is still speaking facts.

And it’s true, indeed, that we have become planted together in the likeness of His death. The “if” doesn’t question this, but confirms it. It’s summarizing what we’ve considered in the past few verses, in order to fully confirm the second half of the statement. Just as Rom. 5:19 did! Through one man’s failure, the many are now sinners. Confirmed fact, when we watch Nicki Manaj shake her ass for thirteen-year old boys to watch online. Through another’s success, the many shall be constituted just. Confirmed fact, because the first half of the phrase is true, and God does not lie.

The “planted together” confirms just how intimate our baptism is. We are indeed, the fruits of His spirit. We were, obviously, not literally in the tomb with Christ, so it must be known that, though separate, we are confirmed identical in spirit, now. Our death is not literally going to be the same as His, nor is our death literally His own death. We are baptized together into His death, which means our death, to God, is like His death. The way His Son died is the way He considers you and me to have died.

And what happened to Jesus’ spirit? It was resurrected through the glory of the Father. So, the second half of the verse stands as strongly as the first. This is amplified by the use of “nevertheless,” which… isn’t the best translation, in my opinion.

I’m going to go on a little tangent, here, so don’t mind me. I guess Knoch wanted a big, fancy word to show that “nevertheless” is a stronger word than “then,” as in, “if, then.” The Greek word translated “nevertheless” is alla. The problem, right off the bat, is that the word itself directly translates to “but.” However, “but” in English is not used in the same way that “but” is used in the Greek. The word alla is an “adversative participle.” Literally speaking, it is designed to strengthen the inference from the previous clause. In this case, the word is supposed to stress the fact that “we shall be of the resurrection also.”

The Dabhar translation, in my opinion, works a little better, here, with the word “certainly.” That said, “certainly” is an adverb, while alla is a conjunction, which leads us to the fact that “certainly” won’t always work when translating alla into English. Sometimes, the simple “but” will actually work, but because we’re reading in English, the force of such a word will be lost, because we’re human and we screw up on an instantaneous basis.

My conclusion is that this is a perfect example as to why, if possible, you should just learn Greek, so you can recognize the power of words like this. So long as you know, simply, that alla is a Greek conjunction that strengthens the inference made from the prior statement, you’re fine. However one translates alla into English becomes a moot point, because now you know. The word appears 636 times in the New Testament, so don’t tell me this wasn’t useful for you. You will see it again, in your own studies. Try reading some verses you’re familiar with again, with this word in mind, and see what you get.

Aaaanyways, the strengthened statement, that “we shall be of the resurrection also,” requires knowing that the word alla “strengthens” this inference, because the first half of the verse said, “we have become planted together in the likeness of His death.” It follows that we can expand the “of” in the second half of the verse to read: “we shall be[come planted together in the likeness] of the resurrection also.” We can do this because, like the first half of the verse, we were not literally in the tomb. Thus we did not literally walk out of His grave holding His hand. Our resurrection, however – the fact that we are going to be vivified – is now identical His. It is just as certain for us as it was for Him. It is guaranteed because of Him.

Here’s an interesting thought from George Rogers, and I share it because I’ve never thought of it:

“The future we shall be does not point to our future resurrection; it is future from the standpoint of our death to sin, which became fact when we were united with Christ. Already we have become planted together in the likeness of His death, and it follows from that moment that we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection also. We are not forthwith raised with transfigured bodies into the glory where He dwells, but death to sin is forthwith followed by the likeness of resurrection.”

Simply put, we shouldn’t be saying, “Oh, we will be in the likeness of His resurrection also!” Paul is walking us through a proof concerning facts about us now. He wouldn’t say, “we should be walking in newness of life,” and then say, “But wait, you can’t consider yourself new until the ‘likeness’ of your resurrection actually occurs.” We have become planted together in the likeness of His death. We shall be of the resurrection also, which means that we have become planted together in the likeness of His resurrection, which means we can now walk in newness of life. It’s a matter of faith, not a matter of experience. Do you get what I mean? Thanks to Jason (YT: Christ Saved Everyone) for confirming this.

…knowing this, that our old humanity was crucified together with Him, that the body of Sin may be nullified…

We know this. We don’t theorize on it, we don’t consider it a possibility, but we, in Christ, know this to be true. It’s true, because the Creator of the universe said it was.

The old humanity was crucified. Let’s spend some time on this. You could dwell on the verse one way, that being: there’s a simple truth, which is that all of humanity is, right now, the “old” humanity. That is, we are all subject to the flesh, which is what we are. We all are, literally, the old humanity. Humanity, as we know, was subject to death thanks to Adam (5:18.) Everyone whose seed is of Adam is part of the “old humanity.”

The other way is to dwell on what the verse says after considering “the old humanity.” The old humanity is every human, yes, but this verse isn’t discussing everyone’s old humanity. It’s discussing our “old humanity;” the saints are baptized into His death. The saints are planted in the likeness of His resurrection as a result. It follows, then, that our old humanity did not merely “die to” sin, the way that “all died” when Christ did (2 Cor. 5:14,) but that ours was crucified together with Him. The same word that was used to define Jesus’ death – “crucifixion” – is used now pertaining to us. The likeness of His death, is, literally, our own. The death of our old humanity is, to God, on par with Christ’s own death, due to baptism into it.

This is even greater when you consider man’s intent. They were envious of Jesus (Matt. 27:18.) They were wanting of His glory (Rom. 3:23,) and as such wanted Him dead. It was this very death that gave us, who were dogs in their eyes, the very glory that they desired! This is far greater than “your plan failed, mankind!” This is, “Your plan not only failed, but paved the way for Christ’s victory, a proper display of His righteousness to the nations, and set up your very subjection to Him!”

See, in direct contrast to men enviously killing Jesus, it is God Who purposefully inflicted such a death – not merely on Christ, but on humanity. It is all of humanity, per Rom. 5:12-19, that died according to Christ’s universally acclaimed obedience to the cross. He voluntarily accepted this burden, which did indeed complete man’s condemnation of death. Every single person has indeed been subject to the process of death. Yet now, it has been made evident to us before God’s indignation is unveiled that said condemnation is not the “final” condemnation, but was a preparatory step to create a new humanity, and we to be the first in line to receive it.

This is the death that humanity deserves. His death was not substitutionary for you; you are imbibed into it. Our hypocrisy is revealed in the Jews’ cries: “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” It’s the death that we deserved. The Jews themselves (the circumcision writers, that is, being the disciples,) proclaimed the cross itself, but they don’t proclaim its effect here the way that Paul does. This is because the effect, as we’ve been reading, is entirely spiritual. There is, obviously, no physical evidence of our current likeness in Him, aside from these verses. As humans are inherently physical creatures, it’s all the more evident that it is God’s decision who to call out (Rom. 1:16.)

In fact, let’s take a moment and put the pieces together. Those who are baptized into His death are called saints. These saints are made aware that they are baptized by faith (Rom. 5:1,) which is in fact a measurement of Christ’s faith being planted into us (Rom. 3:22, 12:3.) This allows us to grow in understanding of God’s peace with us, which in turn reconciles us to Him (5:1, 10.) This in turn allows us to walk in newness of life. See how this all overlaps on itself? The faith helps us understand our conciliation, but everything builds and begins to blend together into a greater understanding of Christ’s sacrifice for us.

*   *   *

The old humanity is evil. It is corrupt. We’ve been over this. It’s the flesh mired in sin. This is not something you learn overnight. This is something that we learn over the course of our lives. We are corrupt in our nature. We were criminals – enemies to God.       God never said He expected anything good of this flesh. For the nth time, He says the opposite – that He does not require anything of human hands (Acts 17:25.) We are incapable of creating a universe such as this. We cannot tell a perfect story; we can only be subject to it. The old humanity died at the cross. It’s over. This flesh has lost.

Consider this. We bring our troubles to God, usually, right? We go to Him, as believers, either to bitch about our current situation, or to confess a weakness within ourselves (and, of course, there may be other underlying reasons, but let’s not kid ourselves. We’re selfish in nature, with sin working in us and all.) Now, I’m not saying that this is a bad thing. God certainly desires we communicate with Him in all things (I know this because He says so – 2 Cor. 1:3, Phil. 4:6-7, Col. 4:2, 1 Thess. 5:16-18.)

I mention this because, with our confessions of horrific acts, God replies thus: “Yes, you are foolish. Weak, ignoble, stupid. It’s the natural effect of being in the flesh. But you are Mine. And there’s nothing you haven’t done that I haven’t willed to occur in your story. And, there’s nothing you could do to remove my love for you. Yup, you’re stuck with Me. Truth be told, I’m glad to finally tell you this! There’s nothing you could tell Me about yourself that I don’t already know. You are figuring out the depths of your failures, yes, but I am the One revealing them to you, that you may grow in a realization of Me. The more you recognize your failures, the more you can recognize My love for you. You wouldn’t understand the new humanity if you were not first educated on the reality of you old humanity, hmmm? Thankfully, My Son died to sin, thus killing your old humanity. All of humanity, in My sight, are now dead to sin. I have freed you from it, which “killed” everyone, in a manner of speaking.

“Please, hold your applause. More than this, I’ve brought you to life anyway. How’s that, for you? Your confession is small. It’s big to you, I understand. It’s a tough gig, being human (talk to My Son about that; He would know.) But don’t think for one second that I don’t understand. You’ve had to experience life as My opposite. How else could your prepared glory be made known to you??  Your burden, your human suffering, is temporary, I promise. This isn’t going to last, because I don’t delight in your loss; I delight in your life. I’ve brought you to life by baptizing you into My Son’s death, that you may experience a resurrection before, that most of the world simply won’t know. You are My achievement. You are special to Me. You’re bringing all this to me; your failures, your suffering, your pain. But you realize, now, that you don’t know the half of your old humanity’s corruption. You could study My Torah for a thousand years and still not recognize your flesh’s weakness. And yet, in that, this only means that there’s so much more left for you to discover of your eonian blessing. Your glory will be in superabundance to your flesh’s stupidity. You’ve no idea where I’m about to place you. This is going to end, and you are going to be seated with My Son, the One Whose death you have been baptized into. You are going to reign with My Image for thousands and thousands of years, having fulfilled My will. Grace to you. You are My Son, now, too. You are effecting My purpose. I love you more than you could ever comprehend.”

- GerudoKing