Romans 6:5-6
5) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His
death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection:
6) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that
the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should
not serve sin.
In pondering the depth of all that Jesus accomplished in His death (and resurrection), I'm
especially impacted by this thought from Watchman Nee's book 'The Normal Christian Life':
In these verses it is made clear that the death of the Lord Jesus is representative and
inclusive. In his death we all died. None of us can progress spiritually without seeing this.
Just as we cannot have justification if we have not seen him bearing our sins on the Cross,
so we cannot have sanctification if we have not seen him bearing us on the Cross. Not only
have our sins been laid on him but we ourselves have been put into him.
When are we crucified with Him? What is the date of our old man's crucifixion? Is it
tomorrow? Yesterday? Today? ...My crucifixion was 'with Him'. Has Christ been
crucified? Then can I be otherwise? And if He was crucified nearly 2000 years ago,
and I with Him, can my crucifixion be said to take place tomorrow? Can His be past and
mine present or future? Praise the Lord, when He died on the Cross I died with Him. He
not only died in my stead, but He bore me with Him to the Cross, so that when He died
I also died. And if I believe in the death of the Lord Jesus, then I can believe in my own
death just as surely as I believe in His.
Our crucifixion can never be made effective by will or by effort, but only by accepting
what the Lord Jesus did on the Cross. Our eyes must be opened to see the finished work
of Calvary.
God's way of deliverance is altogether different from man's way. Man's way is to try to
suppress sin by seeking to overcome it; God's way is to remove the sinner. God's means
of delivering us from sin is not by making us stronger and stronger, but by making us
weaker and weaker. God sets us free from the dominion of sin, not by strengthening our
old man but by crucifying him; not by helping him do anything, but by removing him from
the scene of action.
What a glorious salvation! May the light of God dawn upon our hearts to truly see
ourselves in Christ.
5) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His
death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection:
6) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that
the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should
not serve sin.
In pondering the depth of all that Jesus accomplished in His death (and resurrection), I'm
especially impacted by this thought from Watchman Nee's book 'The Normal Christian Life':
In these verses it is made clear that the death of the Lord Jesus is representative and
inclusive. In his death we all died. None of us can progress spiritually without seeing this.
Just as we cannot have justification if we have not seen him bearing our sins on the Cross,
so we cannot have sanctification if we have not seen him bearing us on the Cross. Not only
have our sins been laid on him but we ourselves have been put into him.
When are we crucified with Him? What is the date of our old man's crucifixion? Is it
tomorrow? Yesterday? Today? ...My crucifixion was 'with Him'. Has Christ been
crucified? Then can I be otherwise? And if He was crucified nearly 2000 years ago,
and I with Him, can my crucifixion be said to take place tomorrow? Can His be past and
mine present or future? Praise the Lord, when He died on the Cross I died with Him. He
not only died in my stead, but He bore me with Him to the Cross, so that when He died
I also died. And if I believe in the death of the Lord Jesus, then I can believe in my own
death just as surely as I believe in His.
Our crucifixion can never be made effective by will or by effort, but only by accepting
what the Lord Jesus did on the Cross. Our eyes must be opened to see the finished work
of Calvary.
God's way of deliverance is altogether different from man's way. Man's way is to try to
suppress sin by seeking to overcome it; God's way is to remove the sinner. God's means
of delivering us from sin is not by making us stronger and stronger, but by making us
weaker and weaker. God sets us free from the dominion of sin, not by strengthening our
old man but by crucifying him; not by helping him do anything, but by removing him from
the scene of action.
What a glorious salvation! May the light of God dawn upon our hearts to truly see
ourselves in Christ.