Paul was clear that when he sinned, “it is no longer I who do it.” He said it twice in Romans 7:15-20. It’s not that he was excusing his behavior, but instead showing that his sin was not his identity.
Now, this goes directly against the world’s teaching to identify ourselves with our sin, to find our identity in our temptations. You’ve no doubt heard that people in certain groups would stand up and introduce themselves by their sin. “Hi, my name is Mike, and I’m a __________”. Other people say things like, “I identify as a __________”.
As a believer in Jesus, one who was crucified with Christ, you can no longer identify yourself by your sin. Your past identity was nailed to a tree and buried in a tomb. "Pornographer," dead! "Adulterer," dead! ,etc.
A man by the name of Augustine understood this truth very well. He was an impure man, given to sexual immorality for many years. One day as he was walking along a woman whom he had been impure with passed by him but Augustine said not a word to her. She turned and said, “Augustine, Augustine; it is I!” to which he replied, “Yes, but it is not I.” He understood his old man had died with Jesus.
Romans 6:8-10 (NIV) Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
Question 5. According to Romans 6:8-9 what can Christ never do again, and why?
Christ can never die again because death has no authority, no power or dominion over Him. He died to sin once for all, He rose from the dead victorious over sin, death, Satan, hell and the grave, and now He is alive forever.
But what is the reason that Paul includes this teaching, that Christ can never die again, here in Romans 6? In the context of Romans 6, death having no authority over Jesus is the same as sin having no power over us! That's the point of Paul's discussion of the gospel in Romans chapter 6.
Question 6. According to Romans 6:10, what is Christ’s resurrected life like?
Log in / create an account to enroll or continue where you left off.