Old and new

“So you also! Count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Rom 6:11

In the previous passage, Paul made it clear that newness of life can come only when our old humanity dies with Christ. Because: Only through death does new life come.

“Now together with Him we were buried in death by baptism, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so also we may walk in newness of life.”
Rom 6:4

Now this contrast is the prequel to the current verse. What is now buried in death, Paul calls a few verses further “the old humanity”:

“Realizing this, that our old humanity was crucified together with Him, so that the body of sin might be rendered ineffective and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.”
Rom 6:6

God’s goal with us is change in newness of life. Liberation from the slavery of sin is to enable us to do this. How do we get there now? Through death and resurrection. Paul writes about this in Romans 6.

The ancient mankind

It was not we ourselves who died on the cross, but our ancient humanity. This has a meaning. As far as Paul calls it here, he writes by way of introduction: “recognizing this …”. It is about acknowledging a reality. We should realize that our old humanity was “crucified together with Him.” Because that’s how it is. This is not literally true, but it is a spiritual reality – this is how Paul sees and describes it in figurative language. This is the reality before God. We are not asked to feel bad or sinful, to try hard, improve ourselves, or otherwise be active, but to look at ourselves through God’s eyes. We should recognize!

The cross without resurrection does not bring salvation. This is just as true for our everyday lives. There is a newness of life only through death and resurrection. Of course, this is imagery when it relates to our everyday lives. Paul wants to wake us up with these images, to awaken our trust in God – so that we learn to put the New Life into practice.

In all this the apostle is very sober. Our daily lives are not about sentimentalism, nor do we need confirmation in our faith at every turn (such as miracles, signs, prophecies). Rather, it is a matter of simple trust and actively putting that trust into practice. We are fully human and fully dependent on Him. Paul shows how we give our lives a concrete direction:

• We believe that we will live together with Him (Rom 6:8)
• We reckon that we are dead to sin (Rom 6:11)
• We reckon that we are alive to God (Rom 6:11)

“Trust” and “count on it” are the two components for a healthy livelihood. We believe, or rather trust God and His Word, and reckon with the foundations He has worked out. We see ourselves not only as loved by God, but also as having died and been raised “with Christ.”

We expect

The Greek word for “reckon”(logizomai) is related to the root word “logos” (word) and is closely related to our term “logical”. It is the fruit of our own thinking or the logical reasoning of others. It is often used in the letter to the Romans:

Rom 2:3
Rom 2:26
Rom 3:28
Rom 4:3-23 (9x)
Rom 6:11
Rom 8:36
Rom 9:8
Rom 14:14

Who “expects” something, considers it to be true and aligns himself accordingly. Specifically, it is that we expect to be dead to sin. The one who is dead to sin no longer responds to it, no longer helpless to sin, no longer enslaved to sin. So Paul is not advising us to fight against sin daily, but rather to die to sin daily – because our “old man” was crucified along with Christ. He is dead, and we choose to assess and leave it that way for ourselves as well.

Likewise, we recognize that – spiritually speaking – we have been raised by God with Christ. Our life is linked to Him. We count on being alive to God. Because if that is so, how do we behave?

“Consequently, sin shall not reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.”
Rom 6:12

So this “reckoning with it” has consequences! – The apostle mentions further concrete changes in behavior in the very next verse:

“Neither set your members as instruments of unrighteousness for sin, but make yourselves available to God as living from the dead and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For then sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace.”
Rom 6:13-14

Provide yourself

The sequence of actions is like this:

1. believe
2. reckon with
3. make themselves available.

Whoever makes himself available for God and gives room to all of this, has no time left for anything else. It is here the daily decision to choose this or that. Making yourself available is built on faith and daily choices. To make oneself ready is to say, “Lord, here I am!” (Abraham: Gen 22:1; Gen 22:7; Gen 22: 11; Samuel: 1Sam 3).

What Paul testifies is not merely an answer with the lips, but it is the testimony of a man or woman who relies on God alone and enters into the relationship and richness of the Good News. It is someone who reckons with being dead to sin and reckons with being alive before God. It concerns the internalization of the cross and resurrection, the understanding of their meaning and the direction of life. This is the logical consequence. We no longer make ourselves available as instruments of unrighteousness for sin, but we make ourselves available to God as living from the dead.