Romans 6:8-9 - Life, Life, Life (Conciliation Series, Part XIX)

 Part IV: God’s Conciliation, Confirmed

Now if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall be living together with Him also…

“Together.” Well, that’s a nice word. “Together.”

No, really, say it one more time for the peanut gallery in the back: together. This is how God views us. He sees your death as Christ’s death. Paul ran through the proof of this in the first seven verses of the chapter. The death of Christ, that we were planted together in, through baptism by holy spirit, has been thoroughly discussed, now. Romans 6:7 was the conclusion of the first half of Paul’s response to the initial objection laid out in Romans 6:1.

The first side of the argument concluded with a justification from sin. All who died (which was, literally, everyone, per 2 Cor. 5:14,) are justified from sin. But not all who died are justified by faith. which those of the old humanity are a part of. The special technicality for believers here is displayed in the baptism itself. We were not merely crucified on the cross, by being related to the Firstborn (Col. 1:15-16.) We were actually baptized into His death, meaning we share of all the blessing of Christ’s crucifixion.

That alone could satisfy the objection, but Paul alluded to the second half here a few times in the previous verses, but here we receive a strong, declarative statement that builds from that first half. The second side of the argument can now be fully established. First, notice how often Paul points out that we are together with Christ. The phrase “together with” has been used a number of times now. So far, we have been told that:

-       We were entombed together with Him (6:4)

-       We have been planted together in the likeness of His death (6:5,)

-        Our old humanity was crucified together with Him (6:6)

All three of those comments concern variations of His loss. He dies, by crucifixion, and is entombed. Thus we also share of that suffering. Now, if Jesus’ old flesh was crucified, and as such our flesh was crucified together with Him, meaning we died to sin, Paul can thus summarize his argument with, “We died together with Christ.” This is an unbreakable bond, because Christ’s crucifixion is an unbreakable, undeniable fact.

This does not lead to internal change, or a difference in our physical makeup in any way. It doesn’t erase the fact that sin is working in you. And it certainly won’t magically make you only ever do the right thing, because that’s not what’s happening here. If that’s what you were looking for in these verses, well, I’m sorry. This isn’t a behavioral shift, but a shift in God’s perspective of us as sinners, irrespective of said behavior. He is shifting the goalposts, because He’s God and can do whatever He wants. Thankfully, He is love, so this is pretty kind of Him to do. Our position in relation to Sin has been upended. Instead of being subject to the corruption, He perceives us as though we are subject to Him. He views us as intimately as He viewed His Son on the cross. Though we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we did not obey, that we do not obey, He sanctifies us anyway, considering us holy and flawless in His sight (Eph. 1:4.)

Usually, Paul does an “even as, thus also” dichotomy, but that’s not present here. Here, we have “we believe.” Paul does not say “we can believe,” or “we will believe,” or even “we are required to believe” the second half of the sentence. He simply says, “we are believing.” We are believing the simple logical conclusion, here, and can partake in the blessings thereof. With all things considered, we have a well-grounded conviction of the facts. If we have been baptized into His death, then sharing of His resurrection is our only logical conclusion. In what world is a parallel unable to be fulfilled by God? Is He too weak to do so?

I ask that last question for a reason. You can believe the second half, as the first half is well established, per the first 7 verses of the chapter. If the first half is true, the second half is true as well. We are believing, not maybe believing. The statement Paul brings here is declarative, not an invitation or a recommendation. We shall be living together with Him also. Up until this point, Paul has been talking about “eonian life,” that is, “life for the eons.” Eonian life is beautiful. It covers our allotment in Christ. As He is no longer dying, neither are we, in spirit. There’s a wealth of information to uncover concerning our allotment with Paul, here, but this verse is not limited to eonian life. This verse removes the word “eonian” from the picture. Yes, here we are considering life.

If we are no longer dying, it means we are, literally, no longer dying. The discussion of eonian life breaks down the details of what it means to no longer be dying, but what about after the eons, hmm? Literally, death is no longer something we are subject to. We know we shall be reigning and ruling in Christ for the eons, the more Paul unveils about our expectation in relation to the eons. However, here the “time” facet need not be discussed, because, in actuality, we are currently living and walking in newness of life, per Romans 6:4.

The “we shall” there is future tense, yes, but it is active. It is happening. It is being effected, just as “we died together with Him” is active. These two ideas are actively in effect, making both the case. Both are true, and are followed by physical manifestation of these truths, in their own respective ways, but they are not caused by anything physical. These are perpetual ideas. We are permanently living with Him. When the eons are over, we will be at the beginning of something new. When the story is over, how loving would it be if God disposed of His creatures, the very things He placed His breath into? What’s just, or sober-minded about that?

The point I’m making is that we are permanently unified with Him. The whole “eonian life” thing will happen, yeah. But it’s not something to be enjoyed later, down the road, in due time. It’s something to be enjoyed now. Something we appreciate in the moment, not in relation to some far-off, future event. God is not a future event. He is not a future priority, and Paul will assuredly prove that, both in these verses and the coming verses (Rom. 8:2-17.)

…having perceived that Christ, being roused from among the dead, is no longer dying.

Well geez, yeah, how boring would it be if He could only “sort of” win? What kind of Image of God is that??

This statement here is something that we in Christ have a good understanding of – that Christ cannot die again. When we say, “Death died at the cross,” it’s not a generalization, nor is it a stock phrase. It’s the truth. Death lost. It’s over. He cannot die again. I don’t feel the need to dwell on this for too long, because, to most readers, whether atheist, Christian, or otherwise, this is common sense. If He were to die again, He wouldn’t be all that special, simply put. No more than a mortal. And yet, time and time again, we will read from Paul that Christ is no longer dying. Paul, and thus God, makes it very clear early in His evangel that this is the case with His Son.

But consider, for a moment, how important it was for Paul to cover this idea both at this point in the letter, and at the time it was written! First, you have to establish the sheer grandeur of your Lord, right? You have to make it clear that “baptism into death” need not be a lost concept, and that this is a valuable way to spend your time, in understanding that, obviously, if you are imbibed into His resurrection, you are no longer dying.

This is important because it ties in and elaborates on the whole “forever” idea, for the eons and further, that I was talking about before, but seriously, think about it. There were a number of people that were resurrected during Christ’s sojourn on earth. The most popular one, of course, is Lazarus (John 11,) but there is the astounding proclamation in Matt. 27:51-53 that, after Jesus’ death, that “many bodies of the reposing saints were roused, and, coming out of the tombs after His rousing, they entered into the holy city.”

Hi! It’s me, your good friend, Common Sense. You may have heard of me, though, with the implementation of pesticides in your tap water, we may not have had the greatest connection for the past decade or so. Does the above sound like a small event to you? We literally have movies about ‘zombies’ today, but that shit was happening FOR REAL back then. Can we appreciate that for a moment??

Seriously, this is a true declaration of the unique capability, love, and scope that our Lord encompasses, and Paul will elaborate on this both here and in future letters. But surely this sort of thing, this whole “people crawling out of the grave when the Guy Who says He’s the Son of God dies” business wasn’t something kept secret by the believing Jews. You could certainly argue that the saints in Rome, in the superpower of the world at that time, knew or had some idea of this notion. After all, they hadn’t even been visited by Paul yet and they had been called out!

Moreover, you can ask: where are those folk that were resurrected today? Again, think about it. People like Lazarus were resurrected, right? So… where are they?? Why are they not here, now?? This is simply because, though Lazarus was resurrected, he was not vivified. To be resurrected is for your physical body to be wandering around again. To be vivified, however, is for your spirit to be made alive. There’s an important distinction here, that I will be elaborating on throughout this series, but in relation to this verse, it must be made clear that, though Lazarus, and other saints during Jesus’ sojourn were roused, they, unlike Christ, are not living today. Their bodies were resurrected, and they resumed dying. Unlike these people, Christ is no longer dying.

Death is lording it over Him no longer, for in that He died, He died to Sin once for all time, yet in that He is living, He is living to God.

Death is not “lording” Christ anymore. The term “lord” is kurios, as we saw as early as Romans 1:5 – “Jesus Christ, our Lord.” The term “lord” literally means “master” in the original Greek, and, as if to confirm this, the KJV translators interpreted kurios as such a few times.

The term here, however, is “lording,” in the verb sense of the word. This is where our Lord stood – with death completely and wholistically overshadowing Him. He died, being completely mistreated. As the Son of God, He was treated as the embodiment of Sin, and He was willingly subject to it, for His Father’s sake. The same term that is used to define His status in relation to you, that is: “Lord,” is exactly the same term that was used to define death’s status in relation to Him.

God is at fault for this.

Let me say it again: God is at fault for this. Because so many Christians would find such disagreement with that statement, let me prove it. Here’s Is. 53:10:

Yahweh desires to crush [Christ,] And He causes Him to be wounded.

God, Who is in control of all (Rom. 1:22, 24, 26, 28, 9:16, Is. 45:7, Lam. 3:31-38, Ecc. 1:11, 1 Tim. 4:10,) had death, His very opposite, dominate His Image, with the explicit intent of eliminating His opposite dwelling in you now, having humbled you and brought you to a full realization of Him.

Clearly, Christ knows something we do not know, because from our human perspective, this is madness. “How could He do that to His Son??” We ask fruitlessly. Yet it is Christ, Jesus Christ, Who, while on earth, was fully willing to do His Father’s will. No other has ever done this with a 100% success rate. Death was not merely in Him, but mastered Him for six hours. He was made sin. Sin embodied Him – 2 Cor. 5:21. He died as a Sacrifice, showing that He was truly made sin, killing the enmity in all.

This occurred once. It will never happen again. God is swift in His judgments, but does not remain judgmental. Here’s Psalm 30:5:

For there is only a moment under His anger, But a lifetime under His benevolence. In the evening, lamentation may lodge, But in the morning there is jubilant song.

Before Christ arrived on the planet, those under the law were required to perform repeated acts if they wanted to communicate with the Deity. I can’t list every act, nor do I know them all, but you can assuredly study the Pentateuch and discover exactly what the Jews were required to perform. All of them are types of acts that would temporarily absolve them from sin. Their sacrifices on the Day of Atonement are an example of annual requirement.

Unlike those temporary sacrifices, Christ’s death, among many other qualities, was singular in nature. He died to Sin. We died to Sin, as a result, being baptized into His death. I cannot stress that enough. Yet – now, as Christ is living, He is living to God.

See, there’s truly a spiritual life behind things. I’m a very logical-minded person. If not for Scripture, I would call the very notion of religion itself a hodge-podge of excuses for human indecency, mixed with self-help programs to cope with the dark, Tibetan, Fight Club-esque understanding that we are all dying the moment we exit our mother’s womb. And yet, Scripture is absolutely not proclaiming anything related to “self-help,” but heralds a true, undeserved, unconditional love for everyone, especially of us believers who effectually seek to learn this stuff. The truth stands firm in these words. It’s completely unlike anything I’ve ever seen or heard before. Alive from among the dead, Christ is. So also, you, being imbibed with His spirit, are living to God as well. The very notion that this is planted in your head forces the logical minded person to consider this from the perspective of an all-knowing Deity, and the result of this shift is nothing short of indescribably freeing.

- GerudoKing