Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
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The Questions
1) Who is the “we” and the “him” throughout this passage?
2) How are we “united with Him in the likeness of death”?
3) I know that Christians still sin, so how is “sin rendered powerless”?
Romans 6:5-11
For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, 7 since a person who has died is freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him, 9 because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over him. 10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Original Intent
1) Who is the “we” and the “him” throughout this passage?
Paul is the author of the theologically rich book of Romans, and his audience is announced in chapter 1:7 “To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.” The church in Rome was made up of primarily Gentile believers, who are Paul’s primary audience, but he also addresses the Jewish believers. Romans was written for those “who are loved by God and called to be His saints.” Paul is very intentionally writing to believers as he notes in verse 8, “because your faith is proclaimed in all the world”. The “we” throughout Romans refers to believers as seen in 4:24, “us, who believe in Him”. Going back to 6:3, the “Him” is clarified as being “Christ”.
2) How are we “united with Him in the likeness of death”?
Verse 3 speaks of being “baptized into His (Christ’s) death”. In verse 4, Paul says, “we were buried with by baptism into death”. Again, in verse 5 we hear, “we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death”. Clearly, this a point Paul wants us to sink our teeth into and understand well. Ironically, death is the very crux of our life with Christ! Christ’s physical death on the cross that paid the penalty for sin, but also the spiritual death of every believer. Through Christ’s death, believers are called to also be crucified spiritually; we are called to associate with Jesus’ death so much so, that it is as if our sin nature was on the cross with Him, dying.
3) I know that Christians still sin, so how is “sin rendered powerless”?
Paul says here, “We know that our old self was crucified with Him (see above Q&A) so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless…” Paul’s picture is similar to the imagery of a puppet ruled and chained down by the Master of Sin and Death. This puppet has no choice except to be stuck in sin. Despite all its attempts at breaking free from the chains of sin, the puppet will forever be locked down, controlled by the Master of Sin. This is the “body of sin” Paul refers to. To be rendered powerless to Sin is the idea that the puppet strings have been cut. The puppet is free from the Slave Master of Sin and Death! Yet, without new power and a new life, it falls into a motionless heap on the floor. Christ does not simply “cut the strings of Death”, He fills us with new life and new power to walk in that newness. He fuels us for a life we could never imagine, a hope we never dreamed of, and a depth of relationship previously impossible under the Slave Master.
Everyday Application
1) Who is the “we” and the “him” throughout this passage?
Just because we hold the Bible in our hands and, blessedly, in our own language, does it mean that it was written to us. The Bible was recorded for us that we might know God, understand the gift of the gospel, and be continuously transformed by the truth of Scripture, but it was never intended as our personal letter where everything applies to us however we might want to take it or “feel” about it. However, there are many places in Scripture, especially the New Testament, where “you” or “we” can definitely include you and I living today in our own time because the Church as a global Body, that transcends time, is made up of Christ-followers from every culture and generation since time began.
2) How are we “united with Him in the likeness of death”?
Being united with Christ in the likeness of His death has a million applications to the believer’s everyday life. The act of remembering that our sin nature is indeed utterly, entirely dead is a challenge to embrace in every moment of each day that we have life on earth. The more earnestly we focus on recalling that we are in fact “dead to sin” is what reminds us that Yes, we have been given power to “walk in the newness of life”! (verse 4) We no longer must give in to temptation to lust, be angry, be rude, gossip, be arrogant, or flip people off while driving, Sin is dead to us! Instead, we have been given new life, with a new purpose, and a new heart that longs to love others as Jesus has loved us. When temptation to fall into sin nature flies in the face of our freedom, remember Christian, your sin nature was crucified with your Jesus!
3) I know that Christians still sin, so how is “sin rendered powerless”?
Picking up with the idea of the puppet whose chains have been forever severed from the Slave Master, the Christ follower has been given “everything required for life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3), but the choosing is ours. Though believers have been set free, sometimes we forget Who our true Lord is. When this happens, we sin. The allure to “take the easy path” and just get angry, or take a quick look at pornography, or tell a few lies pounces on us and, without being armed and ready for this attack, believers fall prey to the Enemy Sin and act like they are still prisoners of their former Master. But Believers, we aren’t tied to those chains! For this reason, Peter warns, “Be sober-minded! Be alert! Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, be firm in the faith…” (1 Peter 5:8-9) We not only have the power to live a new life through the Holy Spirit, we have the power to remember Whose we are and RUN from temptation! Take truth into battle with you against the temptation to sin and shout victoriously as Paul did, “Death no longer rules over me!” (verse 9)
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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