What then shall we say? Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound? Of course not! 2 How can we who died to sin yet live in it? 3 Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. 5 For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin. 7 For a dead person has been absolved from sin. 8 If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. 10 As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. 11 Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as [being] dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore, sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires. 13 And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness. 14 For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace.
Paul addressed the issue of eradicating sin from the Christian’s life. He wanted to make sure that a false conclusion was not drawn from what he had previously said about sin and grace – it is incorrect to think that if justification comes through God’s gift of sanctifying grace, then it does not matter, and we should not be punished if we sin because we are justified through Faith in Christ (Rom. 3:5-8). Justification occurs when God declares a person to be righteous before Him in spite of their sinful nature. Paul had previously said that all humans are sinful and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23).
Christians have been set free from slavery to sin and have been given a new and holy life through the death and resurrection of Christ who has conquered sin and death (Rom. 5:8-9). Therefore, they should break with sin and not fall back into sin as if they did not know Christ. Once justified, the task for the Christian is the justification of daily life.
When the early Christians were baptized, immersion (fully submerged in water) and emersion (rising out of the water) were key components of the ceremony. Through Baptism, our immersion into Christ, we participate in Christ’s work of redemption - death, resurrection, ascension, etc., and we live in union with the risen Christ. In this union (our emersion), we have the power/strength over sin and death so we should choose to live a new life without sin. The new life of the Baptized Christian cannot be perceived with the senses, nor is the Christian immediately conscious of this new life. It can only be perceived through the eyes of faith.
Christ’s death was a unique event where he died to sin even though he “did not know sin (2 Cor. 5:21)” and that salvific event will never be repeated. Christians must also die to sin, be concerned with heavenly things, and live for God in Christ Jesus (v. 11). If they remain in Christ, they will not choose to sin and damage their relationship with him. They must be God’s instruments for righteousness and not be obedient to their bodily cravings for what is sinful.
Almighty God, the weakness of our flesh draws us away from the good that we want to do and brings forth the sin that dwells in us. Help us to delight in your word and the teachings of Christ our Savior so that our minds and bodies may be transformed into weapons of righteousness in the battle against sin. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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