Romans 6:8-10 “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.”
In the previous verses, Paul has shown us the power of being dead with Christ. If we are dead with Christ, we are freed from sin. Being freed from sin is not the same as ceasing to be a sinner. We are freed from sin’s dominion over us, but we will still have to deal with the effect of sin in our life as long as we are in a body of earthly flesh.
Since we are still dealing with our Adam (sin) nature, it might seem difficult at times to be confident that we are freed from sin. Being dead with Christ is a great assurance that we are freed from sin, but how do we know that we are dead with Christ? Do we have faith in Him that we shall live with Him, and is there evidence in our lives now that He is living in us?
If we have hope of our final resurrection and we see evidence in our lives that we are even now living with Him, we have the assurance that we are dead with Christ. Being dead with Him, we know in our hearts that He was raised from the dead. Our assurance of this is in the truth that Paul spoke of that we are participants in the likeness of His death and the likeness of His resurrection. We know that He was raised from the dead and that He will die no more.
Death no longer has any dominion over Jesus. He conquered death when He walked out of the tomb. Being in the likeness of His resurrection, death has no more dominion over us. For His children, death is only a sleep for our bodies until He calls us.
Jesus’ life was of such power that He declared He would lay it down. Remember that it was He who chose the moment of His passing when He declared from the cross “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” When the soldiers came to take His life, they were surprised to find that He was already dead. In this death, He died unto sin once: once for all time and once for all His people (Hebrews 10:10).
Jesus’ life was of such power that He declared that He would take His life up again after laying it down for us. He took up His life and walked out of the tomb victorious over sin and death. Since death has no more dominion over Him, He is alive forevermore and He lives unto God. We are in the likeness of His resurrection.
Although we continue to fall asleep in Jesus, death has no dominion over us. It cannot hold us when He calls for us. We experience the power of this when He calls us out of nature’s darkness to walk here in the light of His love. We are confident of being in the likeness of His resurrection because He has called us by the power of His resurrection.
By the power of God, let us live unto God in the example of our Lord Jesus Christ and according to His grace!