Romans 6:8–10

Freedom from the clutches of sin

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

If somebody has fallen into a deep sleep and is totally oblivious to what’s going on, we might say, “He’s dead to the world.” To be dead to something means that it makes no impression on us; it has no control or influence over us. That’s the situation between Christ and sin.

Christ died for sin. Sin is now paid for, and the sinner has been justified. With the defeat of sin, the wages of sin, which is death, has also been taken care of (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). Death no longer has any hold on Christ. Now and forever he lives a glorious, holy, blissful existence “to God.” It is this kind of life Paul has in mind for the Christian when he says, “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”

Again Paul says, “If we died with Christ . . .” Everything said regarding the conditional sentence in verse 5 applies here also. There is no doubt in Paul’s mind that through Baptism we are united with Christ in death. Since (“if”) that is true, we also partake in his resurrection and therefore are joined to him in a new life. This is the third time Paul refers to our connection with Christ in his death (verses 5,6,8). This time the stress is not only on Christ’s death but also especially on his life and on the prospect of our participating in the holy life that Christ now lives to God..