For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Romans 6:5-7
After celebrating Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Resurrection Sunday, what a terrific few verses to study!
Please work through last week's homework if you haven't already. It's imperative as we move forward into victory over the flesh. Grasping the fact that your old self is dead is a foundational truth. If you fail to understand this life-transforming truth, you cannot experience victory over your addictions, habits, sin cycles, or any other area.
Fact #1: Your old flesh is dead.
In some mysterious, spiritual way, when you accepted Christ Jesus as your Savior and surrendered your life to Him, you were "united with Him in a death like His."
Chew on this for a moment. How would your crucifixion with Christ Jesus look? What about yourself would you have nailed to that cross? I think about the securities I put my hope in, the accolades I secretly desire, the idols I stash in the dark corners of my heart, the fears I can't seem to shake. I think about my sinful nature and how it's all powerfully and supernaturally nailed to the cross with Jesus. I am united with Him in a death like His because it's only through death that I can know life.
"For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin"
Remember how I like Paul. Last week in Romans 6:1-4, he asked, "Don't you know..." In verse 5, he says, "For we know..." If you did your studying from the previous week and meditated on the scriptures, your "knowing" should be taking root in your heart. Go back and revisit what we studied in Romans 6:1-4. It will bless you richly because once you understand that you are dead with Christ, you no longer "have to" sin. You can choose to sin, but nothing is "making you" sin.
It's hard to describe the flesh precisely. Our inner being has desires, impulses, and passions; these play out in our minds, wills, and emotions. The flesh acts out the inner man and is what died with Christ.
Now that we know from Fact #1 that our old, sinful man is dead, we get to roll on to Fact #2, which relates to resurrection.
Fact #2: You have risen with Christ.
Just as our unity in death with Christ is a supernatural work, so is the resurrection with Christ. Just as you pictured in your mind's eye your crucifixion with Christ, now we need to meditate on our unity in His life.
I love how God offers both experiences: His intimacy of death and His intimacy of life. Paul expresses this similar idea in Philippians 3:10-11:
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
In place of the old flesh that is dead (Fact #1), God gives the believer a new man – a self that is instinctively obedient and pleasing to God through His resurrection (Fact #2). The New Testament describes the new man for us. As we study God's Word and understand more about the character of Christ and the resurrected life, we transform. That is the power of Christ living in us!
I like what David Guzik says about our old man and what we do with its lusts and passions post-death:
With the old man dead, what do we do with the flesh? God calls us, in participation with Him, to actively do day by day with the flesh just what He has already done with the old man – to crucify it, make it dead to sin (Galatians 5:24). But when we allow the flesh to be continually influenced by the old man's habits of the past, the world, and the devil, the flesh will exert a powerful pull towards sin. If we let the new man within us influence the mind, the will, and the emotions, then we will find the battle less intense.
Romans 6:7 reads: "because anyone who has died has been set free from sin." With the old flesh dead, it cannot render power over us, and we can fight the battles with more confidence because we understand both death and life.
Let me take a moment to encourage you. As I shared in the intro, these passages made me scratch my head for years. Don't be discouraged if this is new territory and learning for you. That means God's working in you. Keep your hand to the plow and ask Him to enlighten the eyes of your heart as it says in Ephesians 1:18. He is faithful!
Father, I pray that my heart's eyes may be enlightened so that I may know the hope to which You have called me, the riches of Your glorious inheritance in Your holy people. Amen.