If we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him

 

If we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him

 

(Romans 6:8-11)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. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Regarding sin, only those who died on the cross with Jesus are truly united with Jesus. In other words, one who is not dead to sin cannot be said to be united with Jesus. Jesus made us realize how to solve the problem of sin. It is the fact that, when we died with Jesus, for sins, the saints died once and for all on the cross of Jesus. Romans 6:7 clearly states that the dead are freed from sin. If you do not die with Jesus, your sins are still there. If the believer does not deny himself, sin remains.

『 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.』

What we who are dead to sin must never forget is the fact that we must not go back to our former self, longing for our former husband, who is already dead. We must live a life guided by the Holy Spirit so that sin no longer has dominion over us. We have to let go of the thought of “what should I do”. The existence of “I” is not a being that can live like that. So, we must deny ourselves and be guided only by the Holy Spirit. We are all slaves to sin. However, Jesus already died on the cross once for all with the sins of those who repent. Therefore, we must live a life of death every day.

This world is Satan's kingdom. Since there is no good of God, it is evil in itself. When Jesus was also questioned by Pilate, he said, “My kingdom is not of this world, but in heaven.” And Jesus said in John 16:11, “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and said, “These kingdoms are given to me, and if you bow down to me, I will give them to you.” The whole kingdom of heaven was created by God, and when Satan said this, Jesus said nothing.

In 1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” did.

After all, the Bible tells us that everything in the world comes from Satan. The love of the world does not come from God. In 1 John 2:15, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” The love of the world does not come from heaven, but comes from the flesh that lives on this earth. It's called "Old mind".

In Ephesians 4:22, it says, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;” and in Romans 6:6, “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 this way, "the old man appears out of the flesh" is the same as Eve's thought, "I will try to do good without God," because both of them are "one's thoughts without God." Just as Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and died spiritually, on the contrary, only when the old man dies can we gain the “life of the spirit”. After eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the spirit died and the old heart that was born in the body appeared. On the contrary, the seed of the promise of salvation (Jesus Christ) can only be found when the old man dies. In other words, the old man is “the desire to become like God” and “one’s thoughts without God”.

In 『If you want to live, you die』, "you want to live" is the heart of the old man. When the old man dies with Jesus on the cross, the spirit has life. The “self” spoken of in “Take up your cross” and “Deny yourself” is “one’s thoughts without God,” and this is the old man. This is a case of speaking according to one's own opinion without any basis in the Bible. The Israelites had seen the power of God for forty years, but except for the first generation Joshua and Caleb, no one believed the word of God because they looked at the land of Canaan with the eyes of an old man (their own thoughts without God).

If I look at my identity through the eyes of an old man, I become a being that has nothing to do with God. However, the moment I think that my identity is not related to the old man, I become a new person by being united with Jesus Christ. In this way, the momentary shift from the old man to the new man is made by pure faith. The old man does not gradually change into a new man, but the old man dies and a new man is born. This is what Bible says, “be born again of water and the Spirit.” Going into the water means that the old man dies, and coming out of the water means “to be reborn as a new man by the Holy Spirit.” This is called the baptism of Christ. In other words, “in union with Jesus Christ I die, and in union with Jesus Christ I live”.