“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (KJV, Rom. 6:11).
“Likewise”
Up to this point in Romans 6, Paul has touched upon many doctrinal matters. There have not been any practical application points per se. Beginning in Romans 3, Paul started to teach about the doctrine of justification by faith.
He brought hope amid chaos and peace during the storm. Sin ran rampant in Romans 1 through a portion of chapter 3. It may have appeared that man was without hope and without God.
But then Paul ensured his readers that there was a way to be right with God apart from the law. The light had dawned, and the righteousness by faith was soon to be revealed. Shortly after, he developed the concept of justification by faith alone and turned the reader’s attention to Abraham, the father of the faith.
Abraham was justified before God apart from his works. He believed God and took God at His Word, and God credited Abraham with righteousness. Then Paul shared that the believer has been reconciled to God because of his justified state.
So there is peace between God and the believer, but the good news did not stop there.
Then Paul told of Adam’s position as the legal representative of humanity. Because Adam sinned, everyone is considered guilty because of Adam’s federal headship. However, Jesus is the second/last Adam, and everyone who believes in Christ is righteous because Jesus is their federal head.
Then Romans 6 starts with a question Paul believed was being asked or assumed it would be. He said, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” (Rom. 6:1).
He realized his teaching would make it sound like the believer could live however he wanted. The grace of God abounds for the Christian. There is no law to determine the Christian’s right standing before God. Jesus represents the believer, and the believer is righteousness in Him, and it is by faith, not by works, that someone is justified and reconciled to God.
Would this not mean that the believer can go on sinning because grace would abound?
The response of Paul is, “Absolutely not!” Then he tells the reader why. He tells of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection and what occurred to Jesus due to them. The focus of Romans 6:1-10 is Jesus. Then from the events in Jesus’ life, Paul draws conclusions about the believer’s life.
As a result, he starts this verse by saying, “Likewise.” In other words, Paul is saying, “In similar fashion,” “In like manner,” or “What has happened to the believer is the same.” Thus, Paul directs the reader’s attention to Christ and says, “What is true of Jesus is true of you.”
“reckon ye also yourselves”
As a result, the Christian must reckon himself to be similar to Jesus. The various parts of his reckoning will be spoken of soon, but for now, it is essential to focus on the word reckon. To reckon means to calculate.
It causes the reader to review what was said, add it all up, and form a conclusion. If someone does the math properly, glorious benefits will shine forth.
Thus, it is essential to understand what has already been said. Romans 6:1-10 has already been covered in various devotions, but a summary explanation will be presented within this devotion.
“to be dead indeed unto sin”
Paul wanted his readers to know that the Christian has died to sin in a similar fashion that Jesus died to sin. Jesus died to sin in two different ways. The first was by dying to the penalty of sin.
Although Jesus never sinned, He came to be the sin-bearer. Man had sinned and therefore was deserving of punishment. God cannot die, but since Jesus took on flesh, the man Jesus could die.
Therefore God made Jesus to be sin, although He knew no sin. Jesus was much like the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament, in which the great high priest would transfer the people’s sins to the animal through imputation.
God has always allowed a substitute. In reality, all the other substitutes were meant to point to the Ultimate Substitute, Jesus Christ. When Christ died to the penalty of sin, He took the penalty upon Himself, but He also died and was no longer bound by it because when someone dies, the law is no longer binding.
Second Jesus died to the power of sin. Jesus was taken up to be with God and was no longer under the law. The law is the power of sin. The law keeps a man condemned and dead. The law separates God from man, and sin uses it as its power. But where there is no law, the power is removed.
So by dying to the law, Jesus died to the power of sin.
The believer needs to reckon himself dead to the penalty of sin and the power of sin.
“but alive unto God”
When Jesus rose from the dead, He rose to be with the Father. He exited the realm of sin and entered into glory. He is now alive in heaven, but there is more to the story. The believer is also called to reckon himself to be alive unto God.
Paul has already said, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).
The point of Paul’s teaching here is that Jesus has been raised to newness of life, and therefore the Christian has as well. Consequently, the Christian cannot live a life of sin.
Jesus died to sin and was raised to newness of life. In the same way, the Christian now lives unto God. Therefore, where there is life, there cannot be death. There cannot be death and lifelessness in the Christian’s relationship with God. This does not mean perfection.
Paul will get into the matter of sin in the life of the Christian soon. However, if someone is truly alive to God, life will show. As a result, Paul said it is absurd to think that a Christian can live in sin because he has died to it and been raised to newness of life.
“through Jesus Christ our Lord”
But how do this life and death come? How is it delivered to the Christian? A better translation is “in Christ” than the KJV’s “through Christ.” Paul frequently speaks about the believers’ union with Christ, and his favorite way of doing so is by saying, “In Christ.”
Thus, the believer must reckon himself to be dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.
Through union with Christ, a believer is accounted as dying with Christ and is raised with Him through the Holy Spirit’s activity. As a result, Paul could say, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him” (1 Thess. 5:9-10).
The believers union with Christ ensures that Christ will live with him, whether awake or asleep.
It is through union with Christ that death and life are a reality. There is no other way. As a result, the believer must continually remind himself that he has died and is alive unto God in Christ. Christ is the believer’s life and must be seen as such.
Paul was adamant about the matter, but it is not discussed enough today.
Elsewhere he said, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God… ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Col. 1:1, 3-4). Christ is the believer’s life.
Final prayer
Father, I thank You for the life of Jesus and my union with Him. Thank You for giving me life through my risen Savior. In Jesus’ name, Amen.