Question 42: Since Christ died for us, why must we still die?
Question 42: Since Christ died for us, why must we
still die?
Answer: Our death is not an act of atonement for
sin. Rather, it is the gateway to eternal life, freeing us from further sin.
In the
Old Testament, when sinners committed a sin, they would bring a sacrificial
lamb to the temple and perform a sacrifice. The sinner would place his hands on
the head of the sacrificial lamb, transferring his sins to it. He would then
kill the sacrificial lamb, collect its blood, and give it to the priest. The
priest would then sprinkle the blood on the altar and burn its flesh on the
altar, performing a ritual of atonement for sin. This had two meanings.
Although
the sacrificial lamb died in place of the sinner, it signifies that the
sacrificial lamb is the sinner himself. The death of the sacrificial lamb is
the death of the sinner. Therefore, the sinner also dies by shedding blood
(baptism by water) and by being burned in fire (baptism by fire).
In this way, believers must
realize that Jesus' death on the cross is the death of believers, and that the
body that suffered and died on the cross is none other than the body of the
believers.
Romans
6:3: "Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into his death?" The word "union" means
unity, becoming one in the same death. The saints also died with Jesus.
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