In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. - Romans 6:11
The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and for deeds left undone. - Harriet Beecher Stowe, Little Foxes, 1865
There is a big difference between a suggestion, an offer, and a promise. In Romans 6, Paul tells us what is and what we can now believe, not suggesting or offering that we think about it or that being alive to God in Christ is conditional. It is something God has done and therefore is something we can enjoy.
You are is very different than you could be.
Look how the Amplified version translates Romans 6:11...
Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.
Goodness, what if we who have been redeemed are dead to sin and alive in Christ? Actually dead to sin and all its encumbering, dementing, torturing, and debilitating ways ... and could live? What might that look like? Jesus. A life with no regrets, nothing to hide, prove, or fear. A life with nothing left unsaid or undone, all in love. Wow! It would be miraculous! It is miraculous, and is waiting for us to claim it, demonstrate its truth, and settle into the warmth and comfort of Life in the Kingdom. It will take some training up for sure, but that again is what Jesus does.
This is more than possible, this is actual! It is a done deal. If Christ is in you, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit and secured by the Love of the Father who sent the Son to take on death for us, to take on sin for us so we can live. Amazing!
Romans 6:11 begins with, "In the same way ...". What a great phrase, In the same way ... it lets us know that there is something to Romans 6:11 is meant to point to, and that something is mentioned in the first ten verses. So, in order to show I'm not making this crazy stuff up, it is only appropriate to share the crazy good news of verses 1-10 ... God is all about your and my NEW LIFE. Enjoy …
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
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,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. IN THE SAME WAY ...
AMEN!
The Daily Prayer - Paragraph 4
Jesus, thank you for coming for me, for ransoming me with your own life.[15 ] I honor you as my Lord, I love you, worship you, trust you. I embrace[16] you as my redemption, and I receive all the work and triumph of your Crucifixion, whereby I am cleansed from all my sin through your shed blood,[17] my old nature is removed,[18] my heart is circumcised unto God,[19] and every claim being made against me is disarmed. [20] I take my place in your cross and death, whereby I have died with you to sin and to my flesh,[21] to the world,[22] and to the evil one.[23] I take up my cross and crucify my flesh with all its pride, unbelief, and idolatry. I put off the old man.[24] I now bring the cross of Christ between me and all people, all spirits, and all things. Holy Spirit, apply to me the fullness of the work of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ for me. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my life.
An excerpt from The Daily Prayer Memory Verse Cards.
