Greetings!
This is a pop quiz!
Let's look at some matching questions. Yes, this is a pop quiz! Please match the words on the left with the most accurate corresponding actions. In the Bible, how should you respond as follows?
1. A promise __ a. Understand it
2. A revealed fact __ b. Claim it
3. An exhortation __ c. Obey it
4. An explanation __ d. Believe it
So how did you do?
Let's get out the "answer key:" a
promise
should be
claimed
; a
revealed fact
should be
believed
; an
exhortation
should be
obeyed
; an
explanation
should be
understood
. How did you do?
With these issues clearly in mind, let's take another look at Romans 6:1-14. This section of Romans (chs. 6-8) is the Bible's most comprehensive description of the provisions and responsibilities of living a victorious life in Christ.
Notice first an
explanation
in vs. 3-5 "Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection." Through spiritual union with Christ believers are partakers of His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension! (Col. 3:1-3). [1]
Next we have a
revealed fact
to believe: "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God (vv.6-10).
Many of us have wondered, "How can I be crucified with Christ?" The Scripture's answer is that this is something to
know
(a fact) not an exhortation to obey.
Watchman Nee found this observation
to be nothing less than revolutionary. He testified, " For years after my conversion I had been taught that the way of deliverance was to reckon myself dead to sin and alive to God (Rom. 6:11), I reckoned from 1920 to 1927, and the trouble was that the more I did so the more alive to sin I clearly was. I simply could not believe myself dead, and I could not produce death. Sin was still defeating me, and I saw that something was fundamentally wrong. So I asked God to show me the meaning of the expression, 'I have been crucified with Christ.' It had become clear to me that when speaking of this subject God nowhere says 'You must be,' but always 'You have been.' Yet in view of my constant failure this just did not seem possible, unless I was to be dishonest with myself. I almost turned to the conclusion that only dishonest people could make such statements. Yet whenever I sought help from others I was sent back to Romans 6:11. I appreciated its teaching, but I could not make out why nothing resulted from it. No one, you see, had pointed out to me that 'knowing' (verse 6) must precede 'reckoning' (verse 11). For months I was troubled and prayed earnestly, reading the Scriptures and seeking light. I said to the Lord, 'If I cannot be brought to see this which is so fundamental I will not preach any more. I want to get clear on this.'
"I remember one morning - how can I ever forget it! - I was sitting upstairs reading Romans and I came to the words: ' knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin' (6:6).
Knowing this
! How could I know it? I prayed, 'Lord open my eyes!' and then in a flash, I saw. I had earlier been reading 1 Corinthians 1:30: 'You are in Christ Jesus.' I turned it up and looked at it again. 'That you are in Christ Jesus, is God's doing!' It was amazing! Then if Christ died, and that is a certain fact, and if God put me into Him, then I must have died too. All at once I saw my oneness with Christ: that I was in Him, and that when He died, I died. My death to sin was a matter of the past and not of the future. It was a divine fact that dawned upon me. Carried away with joy I jumped from my chair and ran downstairs to the man working in the kitchen. 'Brother,' I said, seizing him by the hands, 'do you know that I have died?' I must admit he looked puzzled. 'What do you mean?' he exclaimed, so I went on: 'Do you not know that Christ has died? Do you not know that my death is no less truly a fact than his?' Oh it was so real to me! I felt like shouting my discovery through the streets of Shanghai. From that day to this I have never for one moment doubted the finality of that word: 'I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me ' " (Gal. 2:20a). [2]
Fellow believer, have you come to understand
and believe this truth? Your "old man" (the unregenerate human spirit) is no longer in you; you are a "new man" (with your spirit made alive and united with Christ -Col. 3: 9,10; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:1,5). Any choices to walk according to the flesh are contrary to your essential identity in Christ (1 Pet. 2:9).
Next, Romans ch 6 reveals an
exhortation
to obey: "Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God" (v. 11-13).
To "reckon" coveys a mathematical idea
; it means to add up and draw a conclusion. You should add up the explanation and facts in the preceding verses and draw a proper conclusion about its implications for you personally. If you really are united with Christ spiritually, and you are set free from the mastery of sin, you can yield my mind, will, and body to be in line with God's truth and His holy purposes!
And we also have a
promise
to encourage us in this walk: "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace" ( v. 14). Another great promise assures us, "He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it" (sanctify and keep you - 1 Thess. 5:24).
May God illumine you to understand, know, reckon, and yield to these spiritual realities--the birthright of God's children. Draw the right conclusion and heed these directions. By grace, experience Christ's power for daily living!
John Woodward
